One day you'll love me
by jaimek45
Summary: Two years after the events on Miranda things are getting better and relationships are growing stronger. They think the Alliance is gone and that River is finally safe, but they are wrong.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright this is my first Firefly Fanfic. So If I have done something wrong or portrayed a character incorrectly please let me know. **

**I do not own anything. **

Jayne knew this deal was going south in a hurry. He began to get twitchy and move around a lot. He was not good under pressure.

"Calm down or you'll blow our cover." River smiled at him. It had been two years since the ordeal at Miranda. River had changed so much. She no longer spoke in third person and she actually wore clothes that fit. That was more of Inara's doing though. She had to make Simon see reason that a young woman needed clothing that fit her. She was generally in a happy mood unless she saw something coming.

"Something ain't right." He whispered to her. Jayne had definitely noticed the change in River. He thought about her often in ways he shouldn't. Big callous hands running down soft pale skin. Long dark hair draped across his bed. Her soft pink lips calling out his name. However, Mal threatened to throw him out the airlock if he even thought about touching her.

"Well I haven't seen anything yet. So far we're in the clear if you stop fidgeting." She spoke with authority that caused Jayne to stop. They looked so out of place next to each other. A young girl in a dark blue sundress, hair falling half way down her back. She was so thin it looked like the wind might blow her over. While he was tall, all muscle and looked the part of the crook he usually played. Jayne had grown quite fond of the small girl they always were paired together on the job.

"I ain't fidgetin'" He spat. She rolled her eyes at him and stood there quietly. He stood there for a few more minutes before he hard a sharp in take of breath. He looked over at River to see she had spaced out. _Shit. _He thought watching her carefully. She turned to him face twisted into an emotion he couldn't comprehend. She kicked him in the chest quickly knocking him to the ground and turned to fire at someone across the street. In a matter of seconds another blast sounded from the rooftop across the street and River fell to the ground. Jayne saw the man and quickly shot him. Mal and Zoe burst through the front doors and saw both people on the ground.

"What the hell happened?" Mal shouted checking on River first.

"Two shooters. She kicked me outta the way and shot the first and the second shot her. I took him out." Jayne said standing up. He walked quickly over to River picking her up. The sight of her was terrifying. She was covered in blood and to Jayne's horror the bullet had hit her in the neck. He wasn't the brightest man, but he knew that a neck wound was dangerous. She smiled up at him. He quickly climbed in to the mule that Zoe had pulled up.

"Let's go she's gonna bleed out if we ain't outta here now!" Jayne yelled at Zoe who quickly took off towards Serenity. Mal turned around and sighed at the sight of her. His little Albatross may not make it this time. He reached back and grabbed her hand.

"Hang on lit'l darling. Almost there" He smiled gently at her before looking up at Jayne who was doing his best no to panic.

"Why'd ya kick me outta the way? Why'd ya take the bullet?" He choked back tears asking River. She smiled weakly at him barely hanging on to consciousness. "I ain't worth it lit'l moonbrain."

"Silly Jayne." She grinned and with her last bit of strength placed a bloody hand against his face. "You have no idea how special you are." With the final words out she fell into the blackness.

"Haul ass Zoe! She's out!" He heard the captain yell and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Serenity just up ahead.

"Hang on moonbrain" He said affectionately.

Zoe must have already told everyone they were coming because Simon was standing there panicking. When he saw River covered in blood it just made things worse.

"What the hell happened?" Simon yelled.

"Not now Doc let's just get her to the infirmary. Get her patched up." Mal said reaching for River. The merc was reluctant to let her go, but for her to live he had to. He handed her to mal and stepped off the mule.

"Oh Jayne are you okay?" Her heard Kaylee ask.

"Fine" He grunted before heading off to his bunk. He didn't want to be bothered. He didn't want to have her blood on him anymore.

"Your not going anywhere!" he heard Mal, but he ignored him and kept moving. Mal was just about to go after him when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Zoe was standing there with a knowing look on her face.

"It would not be wise to go after him now. Let him cool down sir." She said solemnly. Mal thought for a moment.

"He was supposed to protect her! What the hell happened out there?" He yelled placing his head in his hands and sighing.

"He did his best sir, but from what he said River protected him. She saw what was gonna happen and took the bullet for him." Zoe was having a hard time comprehending what she just said, but River saving Jayne was definitely something new.

"River taking a bullet for Jayne?" He thought for a moment. "I knew they were becoming friends, but didn't see that coming. You see the way he stormed off?" Zoe nodded. "You think somethin's goin on?"

"Don't rightly know, but we have more things to worry about then what two adults might be doing." Zoe sad heading towards the mule to begin to unload the cargo.

When Jayne made it to his bunk he ripped off his shirt and threw it on the ground. Taking some water he began to wash his face and hands cleansing himself of her blood. He wondered what was going on. She didn't look good when the doc took off with her. What the hell was she thinking? Stepping in and taking a bullet for him. "Gorram girl! What does she think she's doing? Taking a bullet almost getting herself for me. She thinks I can't take care of myself. "He said punching the wall of his bunk. He was pretty sure he broke his hand, but he didn't care. He sat down on his bed and placed his head between his hands and focused on breathing. He couldn't focus though. He thought of her smiling at him, trying to calm him down when she was the one almost dying. It seemed like days before anyone knocked on his bunk. Mal stepped down the ladder quietly before taking in the state of his merc. Something was bothering him, but he was likely to get yelled at or hurt if he brought it up.

"What ya want Mal?" He growled.

"River's awake. " He stated simply.

"So?" Jayne tried to hide his excitement. He didn't even understand where it came from. It kinda worried him.

"She's askin for ya." Mal said. Jayne couldn't hide his surprise.

"What's she want with me?" Mal shrugged. Jayne made his way up the ladder to the infirmary.

"Prolly got something to do with her saving ya though." Mal said following him.

He breathed a sigh of relief, which the captain noticed, seeing River talking animatedly with Kaylee. She was pale and looked weak. The bandage on her neck was a reminder of how they had all almost lost her. She turned to see him standing there in the doorway.

"Jayne!" She said excitedly. Kaylee looked at Simon and Mal who both shrugged. She watched as the tall merc approached the bed with caution and smiled weakly down at her. He placed a hand on her shoulder gently almost as if she may break under the pressure. Kaylee let a giggle slip as she watched the two. "Privacy please." River asked peeking around the big man in front of her. Everyone nodded except for Simon who stayed right where he was. "I won't ask again Simon." She said sternly. He continued to stand there silently until river threw the medical book at him smacking him in the forehead. Simon quickly retreated out the door while Jayne nearly fell over laughing. When he stopped he turned to look at her. She was beaming up at him like nothing had happened.

"Gorramit girl! What the hell were you thinking?" He tried his best to keep his voice down knowing that the rest of the crew was standing outside listening.

"I thought about what would happen and concluded that was the only thing that made sense." She shrugged nonchalantly. He thought for a moment before growing angry again.

"What did you have to think about?" He asked. He had to know why she saved him.

"Well if I would have shot the man on the street the man on the roof would have killed you. If I shot the man on the roof the one on the street would have killed me. By pushing you and moving I was simply wounded and you are fine." She grinned.

"But why you could have let me die." He whispered. She was so forgiving he couldn't understand why. She smiled before reaching up and patting his cheek.

"Silly Jayne you're special. You can't die." She continued to smile at him.

"Why am I special?" He asked.

"If I tell you. You'll deny it. You'll be angry." She smirked. He nodded telling her to go on. "One day. You'll love me" she grinned.

"What the hell are ya talkin bout" He yelled this time. "I don't have feelings for ya moonbrain. I don't have feelings for anyone and I never will." He turned to walk out of the infirmary when she moaned his name just like in his day dream earlier. He turned and stormed towards the bed.

"Rough hands sliding down my skin." She begins while he listens in horror as she continues his fantasy. "Long, dark hair on your bed. Me calling out your name in pleasure." She smirked.

"Gorramit! Stay outta my head." He finally ran from the room while everyone else watched in horror.

"You'll see Jayne Cobb." She began talking to herself "One day you will love me"

**Let me know what you think. Should I continue or not? Please read and review. Let me know.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay so here is the new updated chapter 2. I am currently working on chapter 3 and I hope to have it up soon. I do not own anything. **

Mal walked outside with everyone else waiting to see what would come of this chat between River and Jayne. He had never really thought that the two of them would get together and frankly he didn't like the idea. He couldn't hear anything and that bothered him more, but Zoe was right they were adults and there was nothing he could do about it. His rule about the crew sleeping with each other went right out the window with Zoe and Wash. He just never figured he'd have this problem with his little albatross. He watched in confusion as Simon came running out the door holding his forehead. Kaylee immediately ran over to make sure he was okay.

"What the hell happened to you?" Mal asked. He didn't even know the doc was still in the infirmary. He thought he left when everyone else did.

"She hit me in the head with a book." Simon was astonished. His _mei mei_ hit him.

"No offense Doc, but she's stuck in a bed. Probably a little hard to hit you with the book hard enough to leave a welt like that" Mal was trying his best not to laugh. River was not one that you should annoy.

"She threw it at me!" Simon yelled which caused everyone to begin laughing. "What does she want with him anyway?"

"Well she saved his life by kicking him outtathe way. She took a bullet to save him." Zoe said calmly sitting down. Simon thought for a moment and had to sit down when he thought about River and Jayne together. They all turned to Wash running towards them. "What's wrong?" Zoe grew concerned

"Oh nothing." He smiled. "Just coming to check up on River. How's she doing?"

"She's in there with Jayne now. Talking." Zoe smirked. Wash stood there for a moment thinking about what to say next.

"Well River and Jayne. Who would have thought that?" He smirked at Kaylee and Zoe who both stifled laughter as they raised their hands.

"I had two years" Kaylee danced about happily as Zoe and Wash handed her some credits.

"You three idiots have been betting on River and Jayne getting together?" Mal asked quietly and watched as they all nodded. "And you couldn't let me in on it?" He smirked as they all erupted into laughter. Simon shook his head as they continued on. Suddenly here was shouting and Jayne came storming out the door.

"What's wrong trouble in paradise?" Wash yelled at him which caused everyone to fall to the ground laughing.

"We ain't together so shut the hell up!" and with that he was outta sight. Kaylee frowned and handed Wash and Zoe back their money.

"When did you all start betting on relationships around here?" Mal asked totally stumped with whatever was going on with Jayne and River.

"Long time ago, Sir" Zoe smiled and walked away with Wash following.

"With you and Inara" Kaylee giggled as she ran into the infirmary with Simon. Mal simply stared at the ground for a moment before going to check on River.

Three weeks flew by before Simon allowed her to leave the infirmary. She was allowed to go to her room and to the kitchen. She was getting restless. She knew her body's limits better than anyone who was he to tell her t stay put. She was nineteen years old. She was going to be twenty in a week. He had other things to worry about, like how he was going to propose to Kaylee. She knew it was late. Everyone was sleeping dreaming of different things. Simon and Kaylee dreamt of each other, while Mal was having nightmares about battles. Zoe was dreaming of babies and Wash was dreaming of dinosaurs. She had to search carefully to find Jayne. His usual dreams of sex were interrupted by dreams of her getting shot. He was imagining how he could have changed things. Though he had been avoiding her for all three weeks she caught him glancing through the infirmary windows on more than one occasion and he had been watching her in the kitchen as well. She stood up and made her way down to the cargo bay. The stairs were her biggest issue. By the time she made it down them, she was feeling weak and woozy. She sat down quickly on the bottom step placing her head against the railing. _This was a bad idea._ She thought to herself. She wasn't even sure she could make it back to her room without passing out. She was concentrating so hard on staying awake that she didn't even hear him approaching.

"Hey moony. You okay?" He asked placing a hand on her shoulder. She jumped quickly not realizing he was there. "Wow it's not often I sneak up on you. What's going on?"

"I miscalculated how much better I was. I made it down here, but I'm not sure if I can make it back to my room." She smiled weakly at him.

"Didn't yer brother say you weren't suppose to be doing this?" He sat down next her.

"Since when did you care what my brother says?" She smirked, but he could tell it was forced. She was having difficulty keeping her eyes open.

"Since it started affecting when you got better. Gotta job coming up I'm gonna need my partner." He smirked and River's heart raced just a little bit. "Do you wanna go back to yer bed?"

"I just want to sit somewhere else. Just for a little bit. Then I'll walk back to my bunk. Promise." She said without looking at him. He knew there was no way she would ever make it back to her room on her own. "You can go now." She finally turned to look at him. He simply smirked and put both hands behind his head relaxing on the stairway. She rolled her eyes and placed her head back against the rail. They sat there for a few minutes before her breathing became even and slow and he knew she was sleeping. He picked her up and gently carried her back to her room. When he laid her down on her bed he kissed her gently on the forehead. _Why the hell did I do that? _He thought to himself. He simply shook his head and with one last look at her he walked out and shut the door. What he didn't know was that she was awake when he kissed her and this wasn't something that she was likely to let go.

It was two weeks after the night on the stairs and Jayne was going out of his way to avoid her. When he wasn't completely avoiding her was being very rude. He was back to calling her crazy and making fun of her. She simply let it go, knowing that he was trying to silence the little voice in the back of his head yelling at him to kiss her. She had finally reached her breaking point though. He was taking his rude comments a bit too far today. She was standing in the kitchen with Inara and Zoe when he walked in wearing the hat his mother made him. She stiffened up, but felt better when Inara placed a warm hand on hers. She looked to the beautiful companion for so much guidance these days, but her calm demeanor could no longer calm the girl.

"Hey crazy. Hand me an apple." It wasn't a request. It was a demand.

"I am not a Slave Jayne. Get your own apple." She said not even turning around.

"Yea, but you're right there an' I'm figurin that ya owe me for bringing you back to your room the other night." He laughed taking out a small blade. He began to sharpen it. "So iffen' you don't mind." She was just going to ignore him until he opened his mouth again. "Sides' it's woman's work anyways." Inara set down the knife she was cutting with and turned to say something to Jayne. River laid a hand on Inara's this time calming the older woman. River shook her head and Inara shrugged and went back to cutting the vegetables. River grabbed an apple and began to walk towards Jayne. He laughed at the fact she was actually listening to him. As she walked closer though his laughter stopped and he began to panic as he saw the look in her eyes. With her left hand she punched him in the face. Succeeding at knocking him out of the chair. She bent down and put her face in his. "Jayne is a girl's name." She smirked taking a bite out of the apple and turning to walk towards the door. She stopped and turned to see Inara and Zoe laughing and Jayne still sitting on the ground holding his jaw. "And your hat is stupid." She giggled on her way out as she heard Inara and Zoe erupt in laughter.

He was so upset by what had happened with Jayne earlier that she couldn't sleep. She made her way back down to the cargo bay, like most nights when she couldn't sleep, to dance. It really didn't help that after word had gotten around about her knocking Jayne on his ass everyone started thinking about what was going on between the two of them. So she was glad everyone was sleeping this was time she had to herself it was quiet no one's thoughts pushing in on her. As the music started she began to dance around the room feeling her muscles pull and tighten. She stopped when someone's thoughts began to creep into her calm mind. Rough callous hands running down the soft skin of her back. Her long dark hair spread across his bed as she lies next to him sleeping. Her beautiful pink mouth calling out his name in pleasure. Her in a white dress walking down an aisle towards him escorted by Simon. His hands running across her round stomach. _He keeps adding things on. _She thought to herself. She thought he was dreaming this until she heard heavy footsteps on the catwalk. As soon as he walked out and saw her he knew she had seen what he was thinking. _Damn!_ He began to look around for an escape. The panic all over his face. River watched and then shrugged and started dancing again.

_What the Hell! She saw! I know she saw and then just goes back to dancing. _He stormed down the stairs and stared at her. When she didn't stop he became angry.

"What the hell!" he yelled at her. She continued to dance ignoring him completely. "Gorramit! Why the hell are you ignoring me?" She was spinning about the room silently. He couldn't take it anymore he grabbed her by the arms and flung her around the face him. "Why are you ignoring me?" He spat

"I am simply dancing. I told you what I saw and you are choosing to ignore that and go out of your way to be a huge ass about it. So if you really don't want to be with me than fine. I guess I'll just find someone else to marry."He gave her the same look that he did when she had punched him. Then she shrugged and tried to pull away. He refused to let go and continued to stare down at her with lust and anger in his eyes. She began having a hard time shutting anyone out. Their faces grew closer together with every breath until he could smell her scent. Before River could say anything he closed the gap between them and planted his lips on hers. She went to slap him, but he grabbed her hand and swiftly picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he slammed her up against the wall and deepened the kiss. She tried her best to shut everyone out. To just stop listening and focus on the man in front of her, but she couldn't. The rush of emotions was too much. Just as she felt him harden against her she heard she felt something that made her breath hitch. It was warm and bubbly. She gasped at how wonderful it made her feel.

"Baby." She said pulling away from Jayne. He smiled at her before trying to kiss her again. "No! A baby." He stopped and set her down on the ground.

"What the hell are you talkin bout girl. I ain't giving you no baby." He stumbled over his words. She gave him a look and walked away towards the warm feeling.

"I wasn't referring to making one. I wouldn't want yours anyways." She smirked walking away. He threw his hands up rubbing his hair then wandered off to his bunk. She found herself outside Zoe and Wash's room. The warmth felt wonderful and she almost didn't want to leave it felt so comforting, but she didn't want to interrupt whatever was going on in there so she climbed back down to her bunk and laughed at the thought of Jayne thinking she was referring to making a baby. Then something else hit her. She saw a baby with ocean blue eyes and dark black hair smiling up at her. She knew this wasn't something from the present, but from the future. She laughed to herself.

Jayne was in a foul mood. Mal could tell by the way he was working out. Grunting and yelling more than usual. He didn't even stop for breakfast. He almost asked what was wrong before he saw Inara and Kaylee standing in the doorway watching Jayne and whispering in each other's ears.

"What are you two ladies talking about this lovely morning?" He smiled at them.

"Well Kaylee came and got me when she saw that Jayne was upset this morning. Now we are trying to figure out what's worked him up so bad." Inara said quietly. Mal looked between the two girls waiting for them to continue. They were to busty ogling Jayne to pay attention.

"So… What's the consensus?" He smirked at them. They turned to look at him with smiles on their faces.

"River" they both said wandering off to the kitchen giggling. Even Zoe turned into a woman when there was good gossip on the ship. Mal turned back to get Jayne, but then decided it was better not to.

When he walked into the kitchen he saw Kaylee trying her best to help Simon with the breakfast and Zoe and Wash were talking at the table. Inara was smiling at him as he sat down next to her.

"Where's River?" he asked. Wash looked around and shrugged. Zoe gave Kaylee a knowing look and they both giggled. Finally Simon turned around to address the captain.

"She said she was too tired and wanted to stay in her bunk." He said rolling his eyes and turning around. This just caused Kaylee and Inara to giggle more. "What is so funny that it has Kaylee giggling like a school girl?" Simon yelled.

"Jayne is very upset about something this morning and your sister won't get out of bed." Kaylee grinned.

"Oh No!" Simon said throwing the spatula down and walking over to the couch and sitting with his head in his hands. "I am not prepared for this." He sighed.

"Well she's nineteen years old. What did you think was gonna happen when you stick her on a ship and the only available man was Jayne?" Wash said. Simon glared at him. "Or you expected her to be a nun." Wash said turning to face Zoe and escape Simon's ever angering face.

"You guys wanna see something real funny." Mal smirked at all of them. "Jayne!" he yelled hoping the merc heard him. He had given up on being upset at Jayne when Zoe had pointed out that River was an adult and if Jayne ever tried anything she didn't want to do; River was more than capable of taking care of herself. He had now decided it was best to deal with this the way he dealt with any other situation. He was gonna turn it into a joke until someone shot him. They waited a moment and heard heavy footsteps coming towards them. Mal was doing his best to keep from laughing at the annoyed look on the Jayne's face.

"What Mal?" Jayne said with an attitude. He knew something was going on, but he couldn't figure out what.

"I need ya to go get River outta bed." Mal was doing his best not to laugh, but it was difficult. Jayne's eyes narrowed as he looked around at everyone. They were waiting to see what he would do.

"No." Jayne said flatly. "I don't have a death wish and I ain't her brother."

"I wasn't asking Jayne." Mal said. The merc stormed off towards her bunk. They wanted to see what would happen if a fight broke out between the two. If they wanted a show he would give them a show. When he got to her room he saw she was sleeping without any covers. A tank top and some very revealing shorts were all that separated the two. Was she trying to kill him? He thought for a moment before walking in to the room. As he went to grab her and drag her out of the bed she yawned and stretched out revealing the pale skin of her stomach. He was barely able to hold himself back from grabbing her and having his way with her, but as soon as the thought popped into his head she started talking.

"Have you ever thought about what it might be like to have your leg broken and your balls torn off at the same time?" She said looking up at him and then wrapping herself in blankets.

"Captain wants you upstairs." He said through his teeth. She was slowly pissing him off. How could she act like nothing had happened between them?

"I'm sleeping" She rolled to face away from him. He tried in vain to unwrap her from the blankets, but the more he pulled on them the more she wrapped up in them. He finally got fed up and pulled her out by her exposed fee causing her to fall out of bed and right onto her butt. She immediately sprang up. "I said I was sleeping. GO AWAY!" she yelled at him. They were face to face and he was fighting the urge to kiss her, but he knew that it would end with him on his ass again.

"I don't rightly care what you were doing. Captain wants you upstairs. Can't hide in your room all day." He said trying to grab her as she danced around her room.

"I wasn't hiding. Hiding would be something I would do if there was a reason to hide. Why do you care what I do?" She asked. He paused for a moment to think about why he did care. "I ain't your sister and I ain't your crew." She mocked him perfectly. It caused him to pause and he felt bad about what he had said before he had even known her. He crossed the distance and kissed her slamming her up against the wall again. She was taken aback for a moment and all she wanted to do was let him kiss her, but she couldn't let him get away with being a total boob. She reared her hand back and smacked him in the head.

"What the hell?" He asked rubbing the spot she smacked.

"I ain't your girlfriend." She spat back in his voice before sitting back down on the bed. He walked over with a growl threw her over his shoulder and walked towards the kitchen. She protested the entire way kicking and screaming. He was pretty sure she even bit him. Everyone was holding back laughter as Jayne walked in and dumped her on the floor.

"Anything else Captain." Jayne spat not looking at the girl. Mal shook his head and laughed as Jayne walked out the door. River stood up silently and walked over to Zoe who quickly stopped laughing.

"You need something River." She said watching her quietly.

"Don't move." River whispered as she placed an ear against Zoe's stomach. Everyone was watching. She felt the warmth as strong as ever. She smiled to herself knowing Zoe and Wash would be so excited.

"Mei mei what are you doing?" Simon asked.

"Feeling the warmth." River said not paying attention. "Meeting the new resident of Serenity." She clarified. She heard Zoe's sharp intake of breath and Wash gasped.

"River. Are you sure?" Simon asked a little cautious. She nodded and Zoe smiled at Wash who began think of Dinosaur related names for a boy. River cocked an eyebrow at him.

"She will never agree to any of those." River giggled. Zoe knew immediately what River was talking about. As they all stood around talking about the excitement of having a baby on board the ship they had no idea of the issues the crew would soon face at the hands of people they thought were long gone.

"Sir we have an order alert on order number 18." The man walked into the room which was only furnished with a single chair. He looked up at his supervisor and then back down at his tablet to verify what he had just told him.

"Which subject?" The man asked excitedly. He could only hope it was her. The younger man looked around for a name before he looked up with an astonished face.

"Subject's name is River Tam. It says here sir that Subject Tam escaped over two years ago." The man nodded to his younger counter-part.

"That's correct, but she need not be here for the order to take effect." He smiled. This was the way to get her back.

"Sir?" He turned to the younger man standing beside him. "What is order 18?"

"It was decided back when we started the academy that if we have young men and women working in such a small area that accidents could not happen. We couldn't have a trained assassin become pregnant. So we shut down the girl's reproductive system until the age of 20. When we activate order 18 they will seek out the most appropriate male specimen within reach and try to procreate. You see we needed a second generation. We had hoped that maybe it would be just as strong if not stronger." The man smiled to himself.

"Should I activate the subject?" The young man asked.

"Yes activate the subject." He watched the young man walk out of the room and he began to laugh to himself. "Soon… River Tam. Soon you will be back and we will finish what we started.

**Okay so let me know what you think of the new updated chapter. Let me know if it's better and a little easier to follow. Please read and review. The reviews help me to know that you are both reading and now with the updates they let me know that you like the updates. So just let me know if you noticed anything I will do my best to fix it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright here's the updated Ch. 3 as always I don't own anything.**

River awoke with a start. She was covered in sweat and her hair was matted to her face. She looked around her room to make sure no one was there. While she didn't see anyone she felt as if someone had been there. She pushed aside those thoughts to deal with her nightmare. She tried to remember what had happened, something about order number 18. She racked her brain trying to remember anything about an order 18, but she couldn't remember anything. She shook the thoughts from her head and swung her feet over the side over her bed. The ground was cold and hard, but she hated wearing shoes she liked the feeling of connection to ship. She walked out her door and heard movement in the cargo bay. As she tiptoed towards the catwalk and saw Simon and Kaylee slow dancing. She smiled at the couple as they danced about to no music. She often wondered where Simon would be if he hadn't spent so much time and money trying to free her. She could tell by Simon's thoughts that he had just proposed and Kaylee had said yes. The reason they were dancing was that Kaylee wanted to dance at their wedding, but had no idea how. Simon only felt it was right that he taught her.

She heard his footsteps walking up and then stopping right behind her. He sat down next to her and River realized he only had on a pair of sleeping pants. She could see all his muscles as he settled down next to her. She tried to hide the fact that she was blushing, but she could tell by the way he was smirking that he had seen it.

"What are they doin'?" He whispered his questions. Whatever was going on down there it looked private and he didn't want to interrupt.

"Simon just proposed and Kaylee was nervous about dancing at their wedding. So he offered to help teach her." River couldn't take he eyes off the happy couple. "She's actually pretty decent." He couldn't take his eyes off of River. The joy she took in her brother's happiness lit p her face. Her long black hair fell down her back in soft curls. She looked so small and fragile at first glance sitting there with her knees tucked into her chest, but if you took the time to look at her you could see the strength in her eyes. She had never looked more beautiful and he was mentally kicking himself for not noticing before.

"Yea well I'm sure the wouldn't want ya spyin' on 'em" he said standing up extending an arm for her to stand up. She smiled up at him.

"I know Simon wants this moment to be private, but I just love watching them like this." She took his hand and stood up. He looked down at her and took notice of how close they were. He decided it was best to take a step back. "Zoe and Wash do this too." She said as he walked her back to her room.

"Oh yea?" He smirked. He had never honestly thought about it, but it made sense any idiot could see those two were in love.

"Yea, but they dance and kiss on the bridge when they think no one is watching." She stopped by her door.

"Well maybe you shouldn't be snooping moony." He laughed at her. She was so good at disappearing when she needed to. He wondered how many times she has spied on him.

"5." She said with no emotion. "I don't snoop anyways. I can't help it if you people shout your thoughts at me."

"5 what?" it took him a moment to catch on to what question she was answering. "Wait a minute! You've spied on me 5 times? What was I doin'?" She stood up on her tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight Jayne" With one last smirk she walked into her room and shut the door behind her. He knew he was falling, but he was gonna fight it with his every last breath because she had been through too much and she deserved so much better.

Jayne was sitting at the breakfast table the next morning when Kaylee came bounding in followed by Simon. They had huge grins on their faces. He knew exactly why they had huge grins plastered on their faces, but as big of a jerk as he was this was simply one secret he couldn't spoil for them. Mal and Inara walked in around the same time and while they acknowledged each other for a moment they went about their daily tasks. Inara got to cooking before Simon could try to and Mal sat down at the table with a cup of coffee. River was the next to walk in. She looked like a goddess in the morning wearing a light blue strapless sundress and her hair was pulled back into a long ponytail. Wash was followed by Zoe who looked like she got hit by a car. River looked up at Zoe thoughtfully then handed her an empty bowl. Zoe looked at her strangely for a moment until she vomited into the bowl profusely.

"Thank you River." She nodded before emptying the contents down the sink and rinsing the bowl.

"You're very welcome, but I would keep that handy for another week. Your morning sickness will be short lived, but it will happen frequently." River nodded then began to doodle on a piece of paper. Jayne tried looking over her shoulder, but she gave him a scowl and playfully punched him in the shoulder. He laughed at her then looked up to see everyone watching the display between the two.

"Can I help ya?" He asked. Everyone shook their heads and went back to their business.

As they sat down to eat their breakfast Simon stood up and cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him very confused except for River and Jayne who knowingly smirked at one another.

"I have an announcement to make." He waited for just a moment before excitedly continuing his sentence. "I asked Kaylee to marry me last night and she said yes." Everyone was silent for a moment before they erupted into cheers. Inara hugged Kaylee tightly while Zoe, Wash and Mal simply smiled at the two. River hugged her brother. Jayne didn't say anything it wasn't his place nor did he really care one way or the other. It wasn't like it was a huge surprise that the two were getting hitched.

The girls giggled excitedly about colors and where they should have the wedding. It was decided that the colors would be pink and gray and the girls were talking about getting dresses made at the next stop. Jayne and Mal gripped about wearing stupid suits. The girls wandered off with the exception of River who stayed behind and continued to draw.

"Well I guess things won't be getting' done today will they darlin'?" Mal asked River. She shook her head and didn't even look up. Mal waited for an actual reply for a minute before giving up and walking out. Simon grew concerned that she didn't answer and walked over to kneel down next to her.

"River. Are you feeling okay?" Simon asked cautiously. She rolled her eyes and looked at him.

"I feel fine Simon." He looked at her with fear in his eyes. "Really Simon. I'm okay." She said smiling. He nodded once before sitting down next to her. She knew he was waiting to see if she was slipping backwards. She finally grew tired of his constant staring and stood up to storm out of the room. As he stood to chase after her Jayne stopped him.

"Don' think that would be wise right now Doc. She looks mighty mad." Jayne wasn't even looking at Simon. He was instead focused on the door which she had just exited through.

"I know she's probably fine. I just worry you know." Jayne nodded his head. If she was his own sister he would have felt the same way.

"I know trust me, but staring at her like some kind of animal in a cage is not gonna help Doc." Jayne stood up.

"Well… Thanks…. I guess Jayne." Simon almost smiled at him.

"No problem Doc." Jayne nodded before calmly striding out the door. He didn't want it to be too obvious that he was going after her, but Simon knew immediately where he was going. He wasn't sure what bothered him more that his sister had become interested in Men or that the man she had taken interest in was none other than Jayne.

He found her sitting on the bed in her room. She was curled up with her knees to her chest. She looked a little bit more scared and broken than last night and now it was starting to worry him. _Maybe I should go get the Doc._ He thought to himself. She immediately looked up at him with panic filled eyes.

"No! No please don't get Simon. No needles. I don't want to sleep." She felt the tears forming and sliding down her cheeks. He looked around outside her room to make sure no one was there and slid the door shut behind him. He sat down on the bed next to her and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. As she calmed down a bit he brought her face up to face his.

"River what is going on?" She was taken aback. It was a rare occasion when he used her name. She thought for a moment before deciding it was okay to tell him.

"I haven't been able to sleep the past few nights. I have been having nightmares."She whispered pulling her knees in a little closer.

"What about?" He asked.

"Order 18" was all she said and he worried she had slipped back into gibberish before she continued. "Men talking about me. Talking about activating order number 18. I can't remember ever hearing about order 18. So I don't know what's going on. "She was getting quieter.

"It's a nightmare River. Nothing more. Don't let it affect you those pieces of _Go se _are gone and they can't ever hurt you." He smiled before wrapping a big arm around her shoulders. She took comfort in his touch and leaned in slightly.

"Jayne what if it's not a dream?" She asked turning her face into his neck.

"What do ya mean?" He was getting confused now.

"Before Book died. I dreamed about it, but I took as just a dream. It made me nervous though because it was different than my other dreams. It was so clear and then it happened it came true." She sighed into his neck. She never noticed how good he smelled. She couldn't place her finger on what smell it was, but it was very enticing.

"You're thinkin' that these are some kinda glimpse of th' future?" He was beginning to get skeptical again.

"I'm not sure, but the scared me." She said sitting up and puling away from him. It bothered him when she did this and he hated that it bothered him.

"Tell you what moony. You have another nightmare; you come to my bunk and wake me up okay?" He smiled at her as she nodded up at him. He never noticed how beautiful her eyes were and how much older she seemed when he looked into them

"Thank yo-"She was cut off when he pressed her mouth against her. He was a slow sweet kiss, very different from the one in the cargo bay, but River liked this one better. She smiled at him sweetly and he was stunned he had actually kissed her.

"I thought you never kissed 'em on the mouth" She teased expecting some smart ass reply instead she got the sweetest words she had ever heard Jayne utter.

"You ain't a whore River. You're not even close. You're…. You're Special."

River was wary of actually waking Jayne up at night, even though he gave the okay for it, it was a dangerous thing to do. So most nights she was down in the cargo bay dancing or chatting with Kaylee, who was very excited about her upcoming wedding. River was more than thrilled to help Kaylee plan as she was not doing anything else. Tonight was one night that Kaylee also hadn't been able to sleep so she joined River down in the cargo bay.

"What color do you think the bridesmaid dresses should be?" Kaylee asked nervously. "I want all the girls to look good."

"I think a light pink would look lovely on all of us." River smiled at her. She was grateful that Kaylee was here distracting her. Kaylee was so happy all the time it was easy to forget about the nightmares that were occurring with more frequency.

"Oh You're right River! Now I just gotta send a wave to my parents and make sure that it's okay if we get married there. I don't think they'll mind though." She squealed. River knew the real reason that Kaylee hated sleeping alone at night. She didn't feel safe anymore. Simon had passed out on the couch with Mal and Wash and would not be in their bed that night and it made Kaylee feel unsafe. Jubal Early had made things difficult for the young mechanic and while Kaylee was still happy and bright during the day dark thoughts crept into her mind when she was alone.

"Well you might want to wait until its daytime on their planet. Roughly 4 hours from now." River smiled at the girl.

"Of course." Kaylee giggled back. They sat there in silence for a moment before Kaylee just decided to ask the question that was on everyone's mind. "What's going on between you and Jayne?"

"Nothing as of now" River shrugged

"Well we've all been wondering." Kaylee herself had been wondering more than anyone.

"No. You've been betting." River smirked up at Kaylee. "He did kiss me though."

"Oh my goodness!" Kaylee placed a hand to her mouth. She thought about what question she would ask and then her curiosity finally got the best of her. "How was it?"

"Well that was the second time he's kissed me. I definitely prefer the second one. He wasn't angry and so he was a lot gentler." River smiled knowing she had just given Kaylee everything she needed to tell the crew they were together.

"wow two times." Kaylee thought for a few more minutes "I thought he doesn't kiss girls on the mouth?"

"I asked the same question." River felt butterflies in her stomach when she thought about his response.

"And?" Kaylee was excited to find out what happened. She was thrilled River could finally have someone besides her brother.

"He said I wasn't a whore. He said I was special" River blushed.

"Well ain't that just shiny." Kaylee smiled at River. She then started to yawn. "Well River. I am getting tired so I'm gonna head to bed. You want me to walk you back to your room?"

"No." she shook her head. "I am going to go to the kitchen and draw for awhile." She smiled to set the mechanic at ease.

"Alright well goodnight River." She smiled and turned to go get Simon off the couch. River smiled at the thought of having Kaylee as a sister. She couldn't ask for a better or more caring woman to marry Simon. She walked as quietly as possible hoping she wouldn't wake anyone. The kitchen was empty and she was thankful for that. As she went to go make some coffee she noticed her drawing utensils were no longer on the table. _I know I left them here._ She thought. She didn't even bother to make the coffee as she took off towards her room hoping that Simon had put her things back there. She turned her room over before coming to the realization that her things were not gonna be in her room.

Jayne heard her angry footsteps approaching his room. He heard the ladder drop and laughed at the fact that she didn't take them. She simply dropped to the ground. He didn't acknowledge her as she walked over to his bed and dropped to her knees so they were face to face.

"I would like my things back now." She wasn't going to bother asking if he had them because she knew he did.

"I would like you to sleep at night." He said while sitting up to face her.

"That is none of your concern Jayne. " She scowled at him before holding out her hand towards him. "Now please, my things."

"Listen moony. We are settling down on Persephone and while it ain't some Rim planet it certainly isn't a central one neither. They have slavers who will be looking fer pretty litl' things like yerself." He hadn't even realized what he said. She began to blush and stare down at the ground.

"You think I'm pretty?" she asked.

"Gorramit!" He said slapping a hand over his face. "Look girl you're a ruttin' genius if you haven't figured out that you're beautiful by now than maybe your not as smart as we thought." He watched her for a few moments as her face scrunched up in thought. "Now get on up ta bed" He said laying back down.

"Can't sleep." She said "Nightmares." He looked at her. She looked like a broken child sitting on the edge of his bed holding back tears.

"Why don't you ask Simon about order 18? He may know somethin'" Jayne asked.

"Even if he did it wouldn't matter. It wouldn't stop the nightmares." She shrugged standing up to walk away. His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"You can sleep in my bunk. Iffen you want to." He wasn't asking. He was simply telling her what her options were. She smiled and climbed in next to him. "You're freezin'" He said wrapping the sheet around her and pulling her close. She laid there taking in his scent. It was intoxicating and she couldn't figure out why. She turned into his chest to get more comfortable and was hit in the face by it. She turned her face up to see if he was sleeping and was met with deep ocean blue eyes. She placed her lips against his and fell into the feelings that kissing him caused. She hadn't even realized when he deepened it. He wanted this more than anything, but then the fact of River's age popped into his head. He tried to shake it away, but then he thought about all the women he had been with. The thought occurred to him that she probably hadn't been with anyone. He pulled away from her and River pouted as he did so. "You need to leave River." He sat up trying to distance himself further from her.

"No." She tried to pull him back down, but he pushed her hands away.

"River, I wasn't askin'" He said flatly. "You need to leave. This isn't right. You're just a child." He watched as her face twisted from serene to angry in a second.

"I am not a child!" She spat quickly standing up. "You are so confusing Jayne Cobb. Your Head screams that you want me. That you love me, but your mouth continues to deny it." She felt the tears forming again. "Figure out what you want because this" She motioned between the two of them "Is exhausting." After she finished yelling at him she stormed up the ladder and made her way to her room. It took Jayne a minute to come to his senses and follow her. When he made it up to the top of his ladder he saw Mal standing there with his mouth hanging open.

"What the hell did I do?" The captain hollered after the small girl who seemed to be on a rampage.

"What happened Captain?" Jayne was astonished that the captain had simply stood there and taken whatever beating River deemed necessary.

"Well I was a little shocked that she was coming outta your bunk and when I tried to say something she turned on me. Yelling that I had to pull my head outta my ass and tell Inara I loved her before she left again!" Mal was flabbergasted. Usually River was so calm and now she was turning on him of all people. Jayne was doing his best not to laugh at what River had said, but it was hard. Mal grimaced and turned to Jayne. Jayne continued to laugh at Mal for a minute before running of to go find River.

He finally found her in the cargo bay. She was angry and that was obvious. Simon was doing his best to calm her down, but she continued to flit about the room avoiding him. Kaylee was smirking at River's behavior. She looked over to see Jayne watching what was going on and walked over to him.

"What did you do Jayne?" Kaylee asked continuing to watch River tease her brother.

"I didn't do nuthin'" He said flatly. Kaylee rolled her eyes at his statement.

"Well whether or not you'll admit it. You upset her sumthin' fierce. You better fix it." Kaylee gave him one last look before walking back to her previous spot. Jayne thought for a moment about how he was gonna calm River down. He finally gained enough courage to walk up and pat Simon on the back.

"Hey Doc" Simon turned to acknowledge him. "Let me get her." When she heard his voice she paused for just a moment to glare at him. Simon simply shrugged and walked over to kaylee intent on watching the show. "Now River I know you're upset, but you need to calm down."

"I am calm." She said sitting down on the stairs. He began to walk over to sit down next to her. He was expecting yelling or even a fist. What he wasn't expecting was River to stand up, turn around and bring her foot backwards to swiftly kick him in the face. She smirked at him as he laid on the ground. "Hm. I guess I lied." She turned and walked back to her room as Simon ran over to help Jayne.

Jayne was sitting in the kitchen with a cold compress on his face listening to Wash and Kaylee laugh. He was getting pretty annoyed, but he couldn't really blame River for being upset. What was pissing him off more were the two hyenas cackling away next to him.

"Would you two shut the hell up." He yelled keeping the compress against his face.

"I'm sorry Jayne… It's just this is the second time that she's knocked you on your ass and she's like what? 90 pounds soaking wet. It's just as funny as it was the first time." Wash started laughing all over again.

"The first time she beat you up because of programming, but since that's not an issue, you must have done something to deserve this." Kaylee said waiting for an explanation. He looked around to see everyone was standing there now with the exception of River who had locked herself in the room.

"I didn't do anything!" He yelled. Kaylee shot him a look that said _I know your lying so you better come clean or I'll just ask River._ "Alright well I did kiss her" Kaylee raised and eyebrow at him

"And?" She said waiting for him to continue.

"And then I kicked her out and called her a child." He said flinching when he realized what a stupid mistake he had made. Wash and Mal both winced at what he had done. No one was denying that he didn't deserve to have his ass kicked.

"And I thought I had problems with women." Mal said rolling his eyes.

"Okay. I am gonna tell you this once because I speak from experience. If you kiss a girl who can effectively kick your ass and then insult her it will not end well for you. Right lamby-toes?" He turned and smiled at Zoe who nodded.

River sat in her bed in her bed. She was done with crying. If he wanted to keep denying what was going on between them then she was just gonna have to make him see. She smirked as she started formulating her plan. She looked up to see that Jayne had somehow gotten her door open.

"River I came to apologize." He said standing there staring at her.

"No need Jayne. I figured out what you meant." She smiled at him. "I am a child to you. I mean you've seen me grow up. So I can understand how you might be apprehensive."

"Well River-" He started but stopped when she glared at him.

"I wasn't finished." He closed his mouth and listened to her. "So while you take your time to realize what you want. I'm going to meet, oh how would you say it, Someone more suitable." She smirked at him. "Besides Badger has some business for us while we're on Persephone." He didn't like where this was going. "And we all know how excited he'll be to see me." As he felt his mouth drop open she began to walk out of the room. She turned as she reached her door. "Thanks again Jayne." As she walked out Kaylee popped her head in and looked at him.

"Oh. You are so screwed." She laughed and left Jayne sitting on River's bed dumbfounded.

**So let me know what you think about the updated chapter. Please read and review. If you see any problems let me know and I'll do my best to fix it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright here is the new chapter. I want to thank everyone who reviewed and favorited the story. You have no idea how much that means to me. As always I do not own anything.**

River loved to watch people down at the docks. She had insisted that she come along to see Badger. Not just to annoy Jayne, but to watch the people in the market. She picked up on bits of conversations that made her laugh. One man was getting yelled at by his wife for looking at another woman. A little boy was being scolded for throwing a tantrum. She was a few feet ahead of Jayne and Mal and she knew it made Jayne nervous. She made a quick turn into a stall when she saw apples which frustrated the merc, but made the captain laugh.

"How much for the apples?" she asked the stall owner.

"How 'bout a pretty smile for one?" He winked at her. She smiled at the man sweetly and grabbed an apple. Just as she was about to continue her walk towards Badger's business she was stopped by a man not much older than her. He had dirty blonde hair and soft green eyes. She couldn't deny the fact that he was handsome. She smiled genuinely at him before trying to walk around to get back to Jayne and Mal.

"Well hello there." He smirked "You here all by yourself?"

"No. My friends are right over there." She motioned to Jayne, who was not very happy to see her talking to another man, and Mal who just looked upset that she had stopped. She knew what the man wanted and his mind was not being very subtle.

"Think your friends would mind if I walked with you awhile." He asked giving her a once over. She laughed a little then flicked her eyes over to Jayne. She laughed a little more seeing his face getting redder by the minute.

"I think they might." He frowned a little.

"Well maybe you can meet me later and we can go get a drink?" He was hoping that she would say yes, but River knew she had to say no. Unfortunately she wouldn't get the chance because Jayne was standing next to her placing an arm around her shoulders.

"Feel like buying me a drink too boy?" He asked straight faced. The man took one look at Jayne before turning around and high tailing it away from River.

"Excuse me. Can I help you with something?" She was a little upset. She was tempted to take the apple in her hand and slam it against his face.

"The boy only wanted one thing." He almost yelled "You ain't got no business talkin' to someone like that." She smirked for a moment as she read the emotions on his face.

"Well Jayne I don't really think that's any of your business." She took a bite out of the apple and continued her walk towards Badger's place. As Jayne stormed off after her Mal could barely contain his laughter.

She saw Badger standing outside waiting for them and she smiled sweetly at him as she got closer.

" 'ello sweetheart." He exclaimed as she raced towards him. She really didn't care about Badger one way or the other, but she knew that Jayne really hated him.

"Badger!" She yelled out in excitement as she jumped into his arms. "How's my favorite bad guy?" She giggled not bothering to look back at Jayne or Mal who were standing there dumbstruck. Mal looked at Jayne who was just about at his breaking point and grinned.

"You really fucked up didn't you?" Mal said holding back his laughter. Jayne turned and grimaced before walking into the building after River.

"So, 'ow have ya been , my dear sweet River?" Badger grinned at her. She smiled sweetly taking the seat next to him.

"I'm great" She was really getting on Jayne' s nerves throwing herself at every guy who gave her the time of day.

"Gorramit! Badger you said you had work fer us. Now what the hell is it?" Jayne couldn't take this anymore. River rolled her eyes as he turned to address Jayne and Mal.

"Well it's a lot like the last job. Simply go to a ball and sing my praises to a local merchant and then maybe he'll do business with me." Badger smiled at the two men before turning his attention back to River.

"Shiny. I'll get Inara to go with me this time." Mal said standing up to leave.

"Not so fast captain." Badger said stopping Mal. "You are not allowed at any balls around her because of previous events. So Inara yes you no."

"Well then who the hell are you gonna send in?" Mal was a little upset about not being involved with what was going on. Badger smiled at him then turned his attention to River. "No you can't send those two in without a man to escort them." Mal crossed his arms to prove he was serious, but it just made River laugh.

"Well I have four tickets. So Simon can go with Inara and I'll send one of my unknown men to escort River here." He then looked at her "Since I can't be goin' with ya." He winked which caused her to giggle. Jayne's fingers clenched and pierced his skin. She turned and grabbed his hand quickly unfurling his fingers with her own and placing a hand back on his lap. "I'll be sure my man takes good care of ya."

"No!" Jayne said standing up.

"I agree with Jayne." Mal sat back down at the table to negotiate. "River and Simon shouldn't go."

"It makes sense Captain daddy." She turned to him to explain her reasoning and was met with his _I am absolutely serious _face. "Simon and I are still Tams. While the Alliance may be gone our names still carry some weight to them. If Simon and I request something from someone who's from the core they will more than likelysay yes simply because who we are." Mal looked at her with his mouth hanging open.

"Well… I mean… Damn!" He paused looking at her again. "I guess that makes sense."

"Mal You can't be serious?" Jayne hollered at him. He was not gonna stand for her going let alone going with one of Badger's men. She knew what he was thinking. Hell he was yelling his thoughts at her. She turned and raised an eyebrow at him which he simply ignored. "Your gonna let her go with some stranger?"

"Would you like to go with me Jayne? As my escort?" River was smirking at him and it made him uncomfortable.

"Better me than some piece of trash that he was gonna send in with ya." He was slightly less agitated, but he had played right into her trap.

"Well then. I guess it's a settled." Badger said to Mal who nodded at him. "Alright Here's the invitations" He held them out to River who graciously too them with a smile. "And I'll be expectin' some business when you're done." River nodded to him politely as she exited to the street. When Jayne and Mal finished hammering out the details of the job they joined her. As she waited for them she made her way to the stall just across the street, which was selling flowers in a variety of colors.

"Don't need no flowers girlie. Now let's get back to the ship. The ball is tonight and we have a lot of work to do to get you presentable." He said trying to be rude, but it didn't seem to bother River.

"Need I remind you I grew up on a core planet. I'll fit in just fine." She looked him down before continuing. "You'll stick out like a sore thumb." She smirked as she walked back onto the ship. Jayne turned around to Mal who was laughing at him.

"Don't look at me like that. You're the one who upset her." He walked past Jayne laughing again.

Simon had helped Jayne get ready for the ball the best he could, but he was so stubborn. He threatened to punch him if he even mentioned cutting off his facial hair. Simon did manage to get him in a suit and that wasn't even his doing. Mal happened to walk by and mention having Badger send over one of his men and Jayne slipped on the suit right after that. Hell he even smelled like he had taken a shower which was a miracle in and of itself. Kaylee beamed at Simon as walked out to the cargo bay to wait for the women to join them.

"Well don't you two look all types of shiny." Kaylee complimented the two men. Jayne nodded a thank you as Simon kissed her.

"Where are Inara and River?" Simon asked wondering what his sister was gonna come out in. River wasn't allowed to too many balls when they were younger because she got bored easily and thought it would be funny to embarrass their parents. So unless they wanted her to meet a prospective husband she stayed in her room, which is exactly where she wanted to be.

"Inara is helping River get ready." Kaylee beamed at her fiancé "she looks wonderful. Like a princess" Jayne rolled his eyes. He could imagine River looking like a killer or even a moonbrain, but a princess. That was ridiculous. He snickered at the thought. "Just you wait Jayne. Your mouth will drop open." They waited a few more minutes before Jayne started getting impatient. He was contemplating saying something when he heard the clinking of high heels on the cat walk. Inara looked like she usually did when she went out to these things. She was wearing a dark green floor length dress with cap sleeves. He hair was done up in a fancy up-do and he shoes, which barely peeked out of the bottom of her dress, were a dark green as well.

"Well don't you two look dashing" She smiled. Jayne nodded at her respectfully and continued to watch for the crazy girl. He couldn't wait to see how ridiculous she looked all done up like Inara. When she finally emerged Jayne felt his jaw drop. She was wearing a deep red strapless floor length dress. She had a basic bun with some curly ringlets hanging down next her face. The real shock came when he saw Inara had put makeup on her. Just as she started going down the stairs he saw she had a slit going all the way up to her thigh.

"Ai ya" He said to himself. She looked like a goddess descending the stairs. Kaylee grinned at him before leaning over towards him.

"Told ya" She placed a hand under his chin and closed his mouth.

River walked over to the rest of the group and smiled. "Ready?" she asked cheerfully.

"As I'll ever be" He said climbing into the Mule rolling his eyes as he did.

When they arrived at the ball Jayne tried to grab Inara's arm to escort her, but she stopped him quickly.

"No Jayne. You have to escort River. She can't be escorted by her brother." She led him over to the small girl he was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of.

"Why can't Simon take her in?" Jayne whined.

"First don't whine." River scolded him. "Second it would be a great dishonor to the Tam family name if I arrived with my brother as an escort." Seeing that she needed to explain further she continued. "If a family didn't have an escort for their daughter besides her brother they wouldn't bother sending her. So the situation is not plausible. We'll be found out quickly."

"Fine," he said taking her arm and walking her into the hall. "But I'm not dancing with ya."

"Won't be a problem. I'll have a number of admirers." She grinned at him. He didn't like where this night was going and he didn't like the sound of her having admirers. The hall was full of beautifully dressed people. They handed the announcer their introduction cards and he did a double take at River when he read the name. She smiled at him sweetly and waited.

"River Tam and escort." He said respectfully. As if saying her name the wrong way would bring on the wrath of God. She giggled a little and looked at him.

"Before the defeat of the Alliance it might have." She smiled up at him. He almost laughed until he realized she had read his mind.

"Thought I told ya not to be readin' my mind girlie" He teased. She smiled at his joke before turning to look at the group of people. Who were all either looking directly at her or were sneaking glances and talking about her.

"As if I would listen" She said walking towards the refreshment table. She handed Jayne a glass of wine. "Sorry no beer. This will have to do until I can buy you some whiskey." He took it from her and nodded.

"I'll hold you to that moony" She didn't acknowledge his affectionate nickname for her. As they stood there River wanted nothing more than for Jayne to ask her to dance. Even if he just wanted to be friends the least he could do was to ask her to dance and be polite, but he was too busy eyeing all the women in the room. They stood there silently watching the dancers, which Simon and Inara had now joined when she was approached by a young man.

"excuse me Ms. Tam do you think your escort would care if I asked you to dance." He bowed to her and she smiled at how nice he was being. She looked back to Jayne who eyed him cautiously.

"Don't you think we should meet our contact?" he asked not really caring if the job got done.

"Not a problem. Inara and Simon ran into him about twenty minutes ago and sealed the deal. Just had to throw he Tam name in there and he agreed to work with Badger right away." She smiled at him.

"Sure dance what do I care." He shrugged and watched as she followed the young man onto the dance floor. He didn't like all this waiting around for her. Left him unsettled. Then he noticed how she kept glancing over and smirking at him. _That little witch_ he thought. _She's trying to make me jealous._ He looked around for the first woman he could find. He began to flirt shamelessly with her until her escort came over and took her away. He looked over to see River dancing with another man and she was laughing at him. He felt someone saddle up next to him. He turned to see Inara standing there.

"You know if you don't want her to dance with anyone else then maybe you should have asked her." She raised an eyebrow at him "Besides flirting with other women won't work. She's a mind reader remember. She knows why you're doing it." She laughed as she watched another man cut in with River.

"That's why she's doing it!" he said trying his best to keep his voice down.

"Yes, but its working." Inara smiled at him one last time before walking back over to Simon. She whispered something in his ear. He looked over at Jayne laughed and asked her to dance. Jayne turned to watch River smile and laugh with the man who was dancing with her. As another man cut in he saw her panic and look to him. He grew concerned as she walked away from the man without saying a word.

"Time to go Jayne." She said grabbing his hand. "We have to get Inara and Simon." He looked confused, but to be honest he just wanted to get out of this suit. Almost as if Simon sensed his sister was upset Simon appeared at her side.

"What's wrong mei mei?" placing his hand on her shoulder. She turned to look Simon square in the eye.

"Nate Sauter is here. He just asked me to dance." She whispered to her brother. As if on cue the young man from the dance floor showed up smiling at River.

"Speak of the devil and he shall arrive." She whispered as she pressed herself into Jayne's side. He wrapped a protective arm around her as the man drew breath to speak.

"River my dear. I was absolutely delighted to hear that you were here." His grin grew larger as he spoke to her. Jayne scowled at the man, but it seemed to have no effect as he was only looking at River. Neither of the siblings spoke. Simon still had his mouth hanging open and River was trying to hide farther behind Jayne. It was Inara who finally broke the silence.

"Dear Mr. Sauter. I apologize for the inconvenience, but our party was just leaving." She smiled before holding on to River's arm and dragging her out with her. Jayne didn't know who he was, but he certainly didn't like how River was acting and if that was any indication of who he was things were going to get bad quickly.

They made it back to Serenity before Inara finally asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Who is Nate Sauter?" She asked Simon knowing in River's current state she wouldn't be able to answer. Jayne was just now carrying her out of the Mule because she could barely move. Her brain was trying to comprehend all the ways that this could end. _What was he even doing on Persephone? _She asked herself. When she finally registered that Inara had asked a question everyone was standing in the cargo bay.

"I think it's time for a crew meeting." She said heading towards the kitchen. She was just passing by Mal who had taken offence that she had called a meeting without his permission.

"Only I can call meetings." He said trying to use his authoritative voice. River simply stopped and gave him a look that sent chills down his spine. "Or, you know we can have a family meeting. Whatever you want." He slowly backed away from her with his hands up.

When the whole family was sitting down in the kitchen she finally began to think about what she would say. How could she tell them, her family, that she had put them in danger again. She thought for another moment before she decided to speak.

"When I was only eight years old my parents entered me into a marriage contract, which was custom on Osiris. On my eighteenth birthday I would marry Nate Sauter. His father owned a lot of shops on Osiris and the deal earned him fifteen percent of the earnings. However, when I entered the Academy the Alliance paid off the Sauter family to end the contract so my father would not lose any standing within the society." She said sitting down at the weight of her own words. She looked to Simon who nodded trying to encourage his sister to continue her story.

"The only problem was Nate did not want out of the contract. He liked me very much and when I left he continued to write me about the life we would share when I left the academy. I ignored his letters which angered him very much, but I knew he could not get anywhere near me." She looked to Jayne who looked upset. She searched his mind to figure out why. He was angry that her parents would sell her to someone simply to gain money and higher social standing. She placed an hand on his which gained any eyebrow raise from Simon, but she silenced him with a stare. "Jayne please take solace in the fact that this is not out of the ordinary on core planets." She whispered hoping to calm him, but it did nothing.

"Nate was a spoiled boy, who has become a spoiled man. I didn't even think about running into him because he hated leaving Osiris. The only reason I can think for him leaving is because-" River didn't have a chance to finish because Zoe did it for her.

"The Alliance sent him" She said somberly. River nodded at her.

"They must have promised him me, but what I can't figure out what they want and why they would trade me." She began to think over what it could be.

"They probably know you're no longer available to be brainwashed." Simon suggested.

"Simon did you ever hear about anything called order 18?" She was curious about what was going on.

"No, but I'll go over the Alliance files again to see if I can find anything." Simon immediately left the table to go check them.

"maybe they want your first born child." Wash joked trying to lighten the mood which earned him a slap on the arm from Zoe.

"Impossible. The Alliance sterilized me when I went in. Can't have a pregnant soldier." River looked so sad at the thought of never being able to have her own child.

"Alright well there's nothing more we can do here. Wash we got the payment from Badger now let's get the hell off this rock before someone kidnaps my lit'l Albatross." Mal walked out flanked by Zoe and Wash. Kaylee gave her a sad look before walking off to go find Simon. Inara looked between the Merc and little River then excused herself. She looked at him for a minute before speaking.

"Jayne I don't understand why you're so upset?" She could almost smell the anger rolling off of him. It was intoxicating. She was having a hard time controlling herself around him.

"The Alliance. They're trying to sell you just like your parents." He turned and grabbed her by the shoulders . She looked him in the eyes for a minute trying to read what emotion was in them. "But you're not something to be sold. Your-" he stopped before he could finish the sentence.

"I'm yours" She whispered not tearing her eyes away from his. He closed the distance between their faces and kissed her. As he sat her on the table she wrapped her long legs around his waist. She was acutely aware though that Mal would be back in there in about ten minutes. "Jayne I believe that it would be best if we continued this in your bunk." She smiled pulling out of the kiss. He grabbed her flinging her over his shoulder and almost running towards his bunk with River giggling along the way.

Nate Sauter sat there patiently waiting for orders of where to go to seek his precious cargo. River was like a rare fruit that once plucked would be all the sweeter. He was glad the Alliance had contacted him once they found her and that they no longer needed her for their studies. An older man with a strong sense of confidence walked into the room.

"Mr. Sauter. I believe there are a few things we need to inform you of." He sat down in the chair opposite of him.

"Yes sir. I am still to marry Miss Tam am I not." He was growing concerned. She had taken off at the first sight of him, like she didn't even know he was going to be there.

"Oh yes, but she will have something very soon that we will want." The man almost smiled at him. Almost. "You see when Miss Tam was with us we shut down her reproductive system. We can't have our students getting distracted. When she turned twenty we reactivated her and with any luck she will soon become pregnant."

"Well I hope that one day she will bare me children, but I fear that's awhile off." He smirked at the older gentleman.

"Not your child. She has a suitable companion on her boat. We are hoping that she will be with his child soon. When we capture her she will have the child, which you will then hand over to us and you two can continue on your merry way as a married couple." The man said with such authority that he could hardly say no.

"But she will be ruined." Nate spat.

"We can always find someone else to marry the girl if you like." He said beginning to walk out of the room.

"NO!" Nate said reaching out to grab the man's shoulder.

"Good Mr. Sauter. We'll be in touch." With that Nate was left in the room by himself dreaming of when his River would be returned to him.

**Alright let me know what you think. Let's be honest reviews are like getting fifty compliments at once and who doesn't like compliments? So read and review. Let me know how I'm doing. What you like and don't like. I especially like hearing predictions. It let's me know if I'm keeping you on your toes. So like I asked earlier. Review, Review, Review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I want to thank everyone who is following the story or is reviewing. I really appreciate it. I want to apologize because this is really just a filler chapter. As always I do not own anything. **

River woke up before Jayne and was content to lay in his arms and listen to his heavy breathing. She loved the smell of him, cigars and earth. It was comforting and made her feel more at home than she ever had. Not that she didn't love living on Serenity, but she always felt like she didn't belong. She knew she had to get up and get dressed at some point so she took his arm, which was draped around her waist, and placed it behind her. When she stood up she started stretching and walked across the room to get her dress which was laying where it had been carelessly thrown the night before. She smiled at the memories. His scruff as he kissed and nibbled at her neck. His eyes staring directly into hers as he carefully entered her and the surprise in them when she flipped over to be on top and take charge. She laughed at the thought then she turned when she heard him move.

"Why are ya gettin' dressed?" He asked sitting up and rubbing his face.

"Because Captain Daddy will be here soon and I didn't figure he would want to see me naked." She smirked.

"Well yea, best be gettin' dressed then" He waved a hand at her as he studied her body from across the room. She was beautiful. Her skin was as pale as the moon back home and as soft as a baby's. _She's too good for apiece of rim trash like me_ he thought staring at his feet. She crossed the room in a minute and stared at him with a hard look in her eyes.

"You are not trash!" She said grabbing his face in one hand. "I am not too good for you." She continued to stare which was making him nervous. "I don't ever want to hear those thoughts in your mind again. Do you understand?" He nodded and she smiled sweetly before kissing him on the lips gently. "Now you better get dressed before the Captain gets here." She tossed him his pants and her quickly dressed before looking at her with panic in his eyes.

"We didn't uh." He paused. "We didn't use any protection." How could he be so stupid? He had spent his whole life making sure he didn't leave any parting gifts with working girls and now he had fucked everything up. She frowned at him before pushing him to sit down on the bed. She looked at him for a moment then sat down and grabbed his hand.

"That will not be a problem." She began "The academy shut down my reproductive system."

"You mean you can't-" he was beginning to get angry. The list of things that they had done to her was getting longer everyday.

"I can't ever have any children." She said holding back tears. Her vision of the beautiful baby with dark hair and blue eyes would never come true. "So if that's anything you'll ever want. You won't be able to get it from me." She patted his hand.

"Never mattered before. Can't reckon it 'ill matter now." He grabbed her and hugged her close against himself. He smelled her hair, vanilla and cinnamon. They didn't even keep anything that smelled like that on the boat, but damned if she didn't smell just like it. They both jumped when the heard Mal beating on the hatch.

"When you two are done screwin round I want everyone up in the kitchen for a meeting." He yelled without coming down for fear of what he might see. _Mal's gonna airlock me again. _He was getting scared of what was awaiting him.

"No need to fear." She almost looked like she was holding back laughter. "They already knew what was coming." She paused and thought for a moment. "Even Simon. So it was pretty obvious where this." She motioned between the two of them "Was heading." He smiled at her as she made her way up the ladder. His ma always use to warn him about strong women. She use to say that when he finally met a strong woman he would know it because she would be the one for him. As he thought over his Ma's words only one girl was in his mind.

"Well Damn" He smirked before following her.

Jayne and River walked into the kitchen hand in hand which caused Kaylee to smirk and hold her hand out towards Zoe, Wash and Inara who all handed over twenty credits. Mal just rolled his eyes, upset that no one told him about the bet. Simon was content to keep his mouth shut until River sat down on Jayne's lap, then he simply couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Mal are you really gonna let this happen?" Simon pointed to the two of him. River and Jayne were too wrapped up in each other to even notice or care. "She's like your daughter."

"Well the way I reckon it is if I make a big stink about it she'll do it outta spite. " He paused for a moment and smiled at the two. "Not like any of us could stop her anyways. She could do a lot worse Simon." Simon rolled his eyes and placed his face in his hands. Kaylee held in her laughter as she rubbed his back. "That's not why I called y'all up here. We're about ready to settle down on Tethys." Kaylee squealed with delight while River looked at her questionly.

"It's my home world." She informed the girl.

"Kaylee I'm gonna need you to send a wave to your parents and let them know we're coming." He barely finished his statement before Kaylee cut in.

"Already let my parents know I was getting' married, but I'll let them know we're coming so they can start gettin' everything ready." She said quickly before running out of the room. River giggled because she knew exactly how much Kaylee's parents had in store for them.

"River and Jayne." They both turned to look at him. "Think you two could disconnect for a few minutes so she can help land this thing." She smiled because it sounded like a question, but she knew it wasn't.

"I think I can manage that captain" She smiled before kissing Jayne on the cheek and following Wash to the bridge. As Jayne stood up to walk out of the room he was stopped by Mal, Zoe and Simon.

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say that if you hurt that girl we will have to hurt you." Jayne wasn't scared of Simon, but Zoe and Mal was another story. "You take care of her."

"That was always the plan Mal." He said staring him right in the eyes and walking out of the room.

"I don't see how she could do worse?" Simon finally asked Mal.

"Badger." Was all Mal needed to say.

"Oh right I'll just keep my mouth shut then." He said walking towards the infirmary.

River laughed and nudged Jayne with her elbow as she saw Kaylee and her mother run screaming towards each other. Kaylee and her mother looked exactly alike. Her father was a tall, thin man with sandy blonde hair and green eyes that looked won and tired. The family reunion became awkward when her parents finally met Simon for the first time. Her father shook his hand, but Kaylee's mother practically tackled him.

"Mom, dad this is Simon." Kaylee beamed as she said his name. Simon nodded to both of them politely.

"My name is Sarah, but you can call me Ma and this here is Evan." She motioned to her husband with the same smile that Kaylee reserved for Simon. River made her way down the ramp with Jayne in tow. Je refused to leave the ship without his guns which made River laugh a little.

"Ma this is Simon's little sister River." She motioned to the small girl.

"Well aren't you a pretty little thing." She grabbed River by the shoulders and held her back to get a look at her. "You two are obviously from the core." She smiled. It wasn't a put down, just a simple observation.

"Yes." River smiled sweetly.

"Ma this is River's … umm… I don't know what they are" Kaylee thought for a moment. Her mother looked questionly between the two.

"This is my Jayne" River smiled at the older woman. She turned to see Mal and the rest walking down the ramp to join them.

"And you know, Mal, Zoe and Wash." Kaylee passed over their names quickly. Once the pleasantries were out of the way Kaylee's Ma asked them to all go inside.

"So we got just about everything set to go for tomorrow. You got the girls' dresses?" She turned to Kaylee who nodded. "I'm assumin' y'all got suits?" The men al nodded, but frowned. "Good. Now dinner will be ready in 'bout an hour. Make yourselves at home." She smiled one last time before turning to walk into the kitchen. River felt a mischievous smirk cross her face before she turned to Mal and Jayne.

"Bar." She said looking between the two.

"Bar" they nodded standing up and following her outside.

The bar was full and rowdy which made Mal nervous. Simon and Kaylee decided to stay at the house to help set things up for the wedding, but everyone else was getting stir crazy from sitting on the ship all day. Jayne and Mal took a seat an available table while River and Zoe made their way towards the bar.

"What'll it be?" The bartender asked smiling at the two unnaturally beautiful women standing at his bar.

"Just need a bottle of whiskey and 5 beers." River smiled handing him the adequate amount of money. As she turned to head back to the table whiskey bottle in hand an older man stopped her. He was obviously drunk and he couldn't bother to even look her in the eyes when he propositioned her. She smiled sweetly trying to just ignore him, but as she walked away he grabbed her arm and jerked her back towards him.

"Where ya goin' sweetheart?" He laughed. When Zoe made it back to the table without River Mal looked up and noticed the exchange.

"Jayne. Guys hittin' on yer woman." He pointed towards the scene unfolding at the bar.

"I think she can handle herself sir" Zoe smiled handing out the beers.

"Zoe's gotta point Mal. You think I gotta temper watch this." He said waiting for the inevitable.

River jerked her arm away and tried once more just to let things go. He grabbed her arm again. This time when she turned to look at him he was angry.

"No need to get touchy sugar." He laughed to all his friends again. She glared at him angrily.

"I am going to ask you once to let go of my arms and continue your night uninjured." She said calmly not breaking eye contact.

"No need to get your panties in a bunch sweetheart. Just trying to be friendly." He said whispering in her ear.

"Look that may work on what ever livestock you bed every night, but women don't appreciate such talk. Now let me go." She yelled.

"Why you little bitch." He raised his hand to smack her, but she smacked him with the bottle of whiskey and then smacked his head on the bar top. When he hit the floor and didn't move she quickly dropped to her knees next to him and snaked the money for another bottle out of his pocket.

"Since you broke my whiskey bottle I believe you owe me another." She smirked then turned to his friends. "Anyone else got a problem." They all shook their heads and she laid the money down on the bar as she grabbed the bottle the bartender had already set down for her. When she got back to the table she almost laughed at everyone's faces. Wash and Mal were shocked while Zoe and Jayne were grinning ear to ear.

"That's my girl." Jayne said kissing her gently on the forehead. She smiled as she passed out shots of whiskey. It took less than an hour for everyone to get drunk, River included. Wash was face down on the table muttering to himself. River yawned and looked over at Jayne who was smiling and joking with Mal.

"We have a long day tomorrow." She said looking around the table at everyone. "And Kaylee and Simon will cause quite the scene if we miss their wedding. So let's get a move on back to the house." She motioned for everyone to follow. It didn't take long to make it back to Kaylee's parent's house and they immediately went to their bunks in Serenity. Jayne laid there next to River nibbling on her ear which was causing her to giggle. "Jayne while I thourghly enjoyed our time together last night, I am gonna have to demand that we go to sleep and save this for tomorrow night." She turned in his arms to face him and he planted a kiss on her lips. When he tried to deepen it she pulled back and sighed. "Fine I'll go sleep in my own bunk tonight." When she tried to get up Jayne wrapped an arm around her stomach possessively and pulled her back down.

"I'll be good" He pouted which caused River to laugh as she snuggled against his chest and drifted off to sleep.

River spent most of the morning helping Kaylee get dressed while Inara did her hair and makeup. Kaylee was excited and could barely calm herself down. River quickly threw on her dress and admired it in the mirror. All the dresses were the same pale shade of pink. They were strapless and flowed gracefully down to the ground. River thought the style of the dresses fit the wedding beautifully. It was outdoors and her mother had gathered hundreds of wild flowers to decorate with. River put on the strappy sandals that kaylee insisted she wore and she calmed a bit when she felt Inara brushing her hair.

"Do you want me to put it up mei mei?" She smiled sweetly at the small girl. River nodded and sat there patiently waiting for Inara to finish. She watched as Inara expertly pulled her hair into a loose side ponytail and placed the wild flowers in it. "What do you think?" She asked when she had finished.

"I love it." She breathed looking at herself in the mirror. She couldn't deny the fact that she truly looked like a woman with the makeup and hair.

"I'm sure Jayne will love it too." Inara smiled at the girl before moving on to work on her own hair. Just as Inara finished up Kaylee's mother came running in to announce that the wedding was starting.

"Alright Zoe your up first with Wash followed by Inara and Jayne and then River and Mal." Sarah smiled at them before ushering Kaylee's father in to escort the girl down the aisle. As River stepped out to meet Mal she took in the sight of the decorations. Her mother was really quite talented. Jayne paused as he came upon River standing there looking like some fairy out of the stories his Ma use to tell him as a child. He didn't hear Mal come up behind him so he jumped slightly when he heard him talk.

"You better breath or you'll pass out." Mal chuckled as he patted Jayne on the back. "She sure looks pretty don't she?" He said watching River spin around watching her dress fly out from her body.

"Pretty don't cover it Mal she looks beautiful." He grinned walking over to River. She stopped and smiled at him.

"Time to line up the wedding is about to start." She said walking past him. He grabbed her arm and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Save me a dance later." He asked already knowing her answer.

"I'll save you all my dances." She smiled before walking over and linking arms with Mal.

The wedding ended quickly. On Kaylee's home planet there weren't a whole lot traditions to up hold and Kaylee said that they had waited long enough. As soon as the words I do left the couple's mouths the party started. There was food and lots of alcohol Kaylee's mother even had her brothers play the instruments. River had a blast dancing with Jayne, but he quickly tired out. River sat down at the table with him. She frowned at the face he was making.

"What's wrong?" He was looking at his hands as he rubbed them together.

"Just seein' Kaylee with her folks makes me miss home I guess. Haven't seen my Ma in a long time." He smiled as he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it gently.

"So why don't we go to your home?" She smiled. She always wanted to know what Jayne's mother was like. To raise someone like Jayne she had to be tough. The thought of a woman that tough was a little scary.

"Don't rightly think Mal would want another break. I mean I'm sure Kaylee and the Doc would want to stay here for awhile. You know Mal doesn't like to stay planet side for long." He frowned knowing it would be awhile longer for he saw his Ma. Hell he wanted to introduce River to his Ma which was another reason he wanted to go home.

"I would love to meet your mother Jayne." She smiled as she sat down on his lap.

"RIVER TAM!" They both turned to see Nate Sauter walking into the party. River's face dropped as Jayne stood up and made his way over to the man who was so obviously uninvited.

"Hey shit fer brains. If ya didn't git the message earlier. She doesn't want to see ya. So ya best be leavin'" He said walking right up to him.

"Who are you talking to Rim trash?" He said looking Jayne up and down before turning his attention to the small beautiful woman walking over towards them. The only thing that stopped Jayne from killing the young man in front of him was how River's hand gently laid on his arm.

"He is not trash." She glared at Nate "You are not welcome here. Leave." She said pulling on Jayne's arm to lead him back to the party.

"Your gonna pick this piece of trash over me." He shouted gaining the entire party's attention.

"I am not picking trash over you because I only see one piece of trash here and it most certainly isn't him." She smirked at Nate who stared at her wide eyed. Jayne smiled at the girl picking her up and spinning her around while kissing her. Nate stormed off back to his shuttle. River smiled thinking that this was over. She could finally move on from her old life and start something new with the wonderful man standing in front of her.

"I thought I was perfectly clear." The man yelled at Nate through the wave. "No contact until we pick her up."

"But she's consorting with that piece of Rim trash!" Nate knew she was suppose to get pregnant, but he didn't like the idea of that man with his hands on his woman.

"That's the idea Mr. Sauter. She will get pregnant and she will have his child. When we are through with her then you can have her." He said finalizing his order. "Do you understand?"

"Yes I understand. Will she be able to have children once she belongs to me?" Nate wanted her to have his children as well.

"Yes. That will not be an issue." The man nodded.

"Well what do you want me to do? When the time comes she won't come with me. So what do you intend to do?" Nate was beginning to think that this plan was stupid.

"We will be sending her father, Mr. Sauter." The man smirked as his watched his plan come together.

**Like I said it's really just a filler. Let me know what you think. Please read and review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I want to thank everyone again for the reviews and for following my story. It really means a lot to me As always I do not own anything. **

It had been three months since Kaylee and Simon's wedding. Things had been going great between Jayne and River and besides the few snide remarks from Simon everyone kept their mouths shut. Kaylee was as excited as ever about what was going on around the ship, Zoe was pregnant and Jayne and River were finally together. Zoe was starting to show as she was now five months pregnant. Jayne, as much like himself as ever, made fun of her for being off on the date.

"I just don't see how you didn't know sooner." He laughed nudging her with his elbow. "Suppose to be a ruttin psychic and ya can't even get that right." Wash started laughing which earned him a glare from Zoe and Kaylee.

"Well I have been doing my best to keep out of everyone's mind. So when I was preoccupied then I couldn't hold anything out and that's when it hit me. "She nodded. "That's why I didn't know until Zoe was already two months pregnant."

"Sounds like a cop out to me." Jayne smirked taking another bite of protein.

"Well maybe if someone hadn't distracted me then we wouldn't be having this conversation." She smiled at him sweetly, but he knew he was treading into dangerous territory.

"I don't get it how was he distractin' ya?" Kaylee asked totally clueless to what was going on. River and Jayne started giggling.

"That's it. I'm out." Simon said throwing his protein away and walking out of the room which caused everyone to start laughing. Mal walked in as confused as ever as to what was going on.

"What are you giggling about in here?" He asked as loudly as he could. Zoe looked up at him while stifling a laugh.

"River was simply informing us as to how she became aware of my pregnancy so late." Zoe's eyebrow went up knowing that the Captain couldn't resist asking why.

"Ya know I was mighty confused on that too. I figured she would have known when it happened." He looked over to River and Jayne who couldn't control their laughter. Kaylee was the only one quiet enough to answer.

"Jayne was distractin' her captain." She smirked. "In the cargo bay." She raised an eyebrow too wondering if she was going to catch on.

"That so?" He thought. _What the hell were they doing in the cargo bay that was so distracting?_ "Were ya sparring?" He asked which caused everyone to erupt in laughter. Mal was even more confused. Inara who had been standing there the whole time took pity on him and walked over to him and whispered in his ear. "Ai Ya! I can't know that!" When everyone calmed down he began to clear his throat. "Moving on from that awkward conversation. We have a job to do on Heloise." Jayne turned to look when he heard the name.

"Any chance this is a legal job Captain?" He asked grabbing River's hand in hope. She squeezed it gently back as she smiled at him reassuringly.

"Why yes Jayne it is. Just shipping a few medical supplies to 'em" He said "Why?"

"Well Hell Mal. That's my home planet. Figurin' we are gonna be there anyways. Might as well stop for a visit." He paused trying to read Mal's face. "If that's alright with you?"

"Would be nice to take a break, Sir." Zoe wasn't lying she was getting more tired these days.

"Well we'll do the job and then we'll go visit your Ma." The Captain wouldn't mind settling down for awhile. "We'll figure things out from there. Alright we'll be there in a day. Ya'll got jobs to do so get to it."

As Jayne and River walked off on there on he noticed her smiling like she knew something no one else did.

"What are you smiling at Moony?" He asked wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"The name of your planet is very fitting for us." She smirked as she kissed his hand and wandered off to go help her brother. Jayne had given up on trying to understand the girl; he knew it would make sense later. That or she would have to explain it.

That day wait was the longest he had ever had to deal with. He wanted to see his Ma and his little brother Mattie. Hell he wanted to introduce his girl to 'em. She was happy at the thought that she was his girl and she knew how big of a deal this was that he was bringing her home, but the thought of meeting the woman who not only brought Jayne into this world, but also raised him, was terrifying. She knew she was gonna be a tough woman, she just hoped that she thought she was good enough for Jayne.

As they unloaded the crates Jayne felt as if the entire town was staring at him and him alone. Hell they probably recognized him. Not likely they would forget all the hell he caused them when he was a youngin. The medical supply job was one of the easiest they had. Mal was just excited he didn't get shot. River was just as happy as if she were dancing.

"What's got you in such a happy mood Moony?" He kissed the top of her head as he wrapped an arm around her. He wasn't missing the looks some of the younger men in town were giving her and he wanted them to know that she was his.

"I love the sun on my skin. It's so warm." She smiled and leaned into him taking in his earthy scent which was now surrounding her. "It's so hard to understand why you would want to leave such a beautiful planet." She wasn't accusing just curious.

"Made a few enemies. Had to do right by my family and leave." He shrugged holding her tighter as he thought he saw a familiar face. "You gonna tell me what you was smilin' about the other day when you heard the name of my planet." He stopped sitting down on the ramp to the ship.

"If you want me to." She waited for him to nod before she continued. "Heloise was a very beautiful 18 year old girl, back on earth-that-was. She fell in love with an older man." She smiled up at him.

"How much older" He teased her.

"He was 38 and her tutor. He was hired by her uncle so she could become even more brilliant than she already was." She waited trying her best to remember the great love story her nanny use to tell her at night before bedtime. "They immediately fell in love and in a matter of months, instead of writing the lectures he use to, he wrote her love poems. However, her uncle found out about the affair and kicked him out. He then became more upset when he found out she was pregnant. The couple was allowed to marry in secret and she could keep the baby so long as they remained separate and the marriage was kept a secret. "She knew this story to well and felt sadden by the way it ended so she stopped there.

"Well what happened?" He asked curiously about the couple.

"Maybe another time Jayne." She smiled sweetly standing up and continuing her way up the ramp. "Let's go and you can introduce me to your mother." The couple entered the ship blissfully unaware that they were being watched.

"Was it just me or did that look like Jayne Cobb?" A short brunette man asked his taller red haired companion.

"Which one?" The taller man asked

"You idiot." The short man rolled his eyes "The one with the pretty little core girl next to him."

"Did look a bit like him Pete." The man thought for a moment. "Didn't you tell him if he came back he was gonna pay?" The man scratched his head as to why the moron would come back after everything that had happened.

"Yes I did. For his actions the price is high, but nothing that that girl can't cover." Pete chuckled to himself at the thought of a new play thing. "Why don't we make a small visit to the Cobb farm Jake?"

River watched Jayne from the ramp wondering how this was going to go. From what he had said and the stories she had heard from the crew it had been at least 20 years since he had set foot on his home planet. She knew he would send wave his mother or send money every chance he got, but that was no substitute for visiting. She saw a short woman with blonde hair coming running out of the house and start yelling at Jayne. She heard Mal snicker and she turned to glare at him.

"That's the only person Jayne would ever let yell at him." She smiled at Mal as they continued watching from afar.

"Well her and you." He grinned at the small girl. Jayne finally turned and waved them over. As River drew closer she got a better look at his mother. She looked young for having spent her life out on a rim planet and raising two boys. River giggled as the woman smacked him on the back of the head. She saw a young man walk out of the house; she assumed he was Mattie. He motioned to the ship where everyone was standing and they watched as his mother smacked him in the head again.

"Well that's never gonna get old." Simon said with a grin which caused River to smack him in the head. Jayne motioned for them to join him and meet his family. River was by his side in a minute. The older woman took one look at the small young girl and smiled at her.

"Ai ya! Jayne you said she was cute, but she's absolutely beautiful." River blushed at what his mother had said.

"Well thank you Mrs. Cobb." River nodded as she grabbed Jayne's hand and leaned into his side.

"And so polite. Ya call me Ma dear. All of ya call me Ma, understood?" She heard her crew agree and she smiled at the loving nature of the woman. "Where are ya from dear?"

"Osiris." River said wondering how she would take her son being with a core girl. She looked at Mattie when she heard him whistle.

"How did you get your hands on a core girl, a pretty one at that?" Jayne glared at him while everyone else laughed.

"I chased after him." She held onto Jayne a little tighter.

"Ya sure?" She nodded to him. "Ya must be outta yer mind." That earned him a slap on the head from Ma. River turned to introduce everyone from her crew.

"This is my brother Simon. He's a doctor and that is Captain Reynolds and the pretty lady standing next to him is Inara. The woman to her right is Zoe and that's her husband Wash and the small smiley thing in the back is Simon's wife Kaylee." She said making sure she had gotten everyone.

"Well don't ya stand out here running your mouth why don't ya come inside? I got food cooking should be ready soon." She smiled before turning and leading the way in the house. Jayne glared at Mattie, who couldn't take his eyes off River, before dragging her in the house after him.

As they sat around the table listening to Jayne's mom tell stories about a younger Jayne River caught on to the fact that he missed home more than he let on. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly. He smiled at her and turned back to the conversation.

"Well Jayne you certainly had an interesting childhood, but it was not a horrible one. Why did you leave?" Zoe asked placing a hand on her stomach.

"I got into some trouble. Crossed the wrong people. To save my Ma I had to leave." He shrugged "I…uh… I robbed a place with a couple of friends and when the heat came down I ratted on them. When they were finally released from prison a few years later they threatened that if I didn't leave they would hurt my Ma and Mattie." His Ma smacked him in the head. "What the hell was that for?" He said rubbing the sore spot.

"Like I couldn't have taken care of myself! No reason for you to up and leave." She frowned at him. She would never admit it, she was as proud as Jayne was, but she missed her eldest son. With the jobs he did she was never sure if he was gonna come home. River smiled at the older woman's thoughts. His family was so close and so different from hers. When Jayne sent money for Mattie and his sickness it was out of love and care for his younger brother not obligation. When her parents sent Simon money when he was in school they didn't care what he used it on it was only sent so he would stop bugging them. "I just hope you're keeping my boy in line." She smiled at the small girl who her son seemed so enamored with.

"I do my best." Wash started laughing as he thought back to what happened at Maidenhead. He didn't think that it would ever not be funny.

"What am I missing out on?" The older woman looked at all of the crew who seemed to find something funny in the young girl's words.

"There was a bar brawl at a small bar at Maidenhead." River began the story and to her amazement Jayne's mom did not panic or freak out. She simply listened and waited for the story to be over. When she finished the story of what had happened to the crew and everything they had been through together Jayne's mom stood up and walked to the counter behind her. She came back with a wooden spoon and smacked Jayne in the head.

"Ma!" He yelled. She smacked him again."Ya gotta stop hittin' me."

"The first one was for being so mean to the girl. The second is for thinkin you can tell me what to do." She glared at him. Was her son that out of it he hadn't seen what is front of him the whole time? From the letters she had received and the story she had just heard he had been in love with this girl far longer than he realized. _Does he even realize it_ She thought. She looked over to the girl she now knew was a reader. She shook her head to signify that he had not come to the realization yet. She sighed he was so much like his father.

"I think I need a drink." Jayne said standing up. Mal, River, Kaylee and Simon decided to join him.

"I want the two men back here. They have to be up early for chores." The older woman yelled at them as they walked out the door.

River watched blissfully as Kaylee and Simon danced to the music. She frowned that Jayne refused to, but she didn't want to push him. He was perfectly content to sit there and drink with Mal. Fifteen minutes had passed before she started getting antsy.

"What's wrong moony?" Jayne leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Just tired of sitting here. I want to dance." She said hopefully looking at him. He rolled his eyes before taking another shot.

"Gotta better chance of me getting' married than dancin'" He hadn't even realized what he said. River stared at him for a moment not moving, not speaking and if he was being honest it kinda freaked him out.

"Goodbye Jayne." She said standing up and walking out the door. He looked over at Mal whose mouth was hanging open at his stupidity.

"What did I say?" He honestly had no clue what he had said.

"You are just a special kinda idiot aren't ya?" Mal asked. He could tell Jayne still had no clue. "River is young and what do little girls always dream of?" Still nothing. "Jayne as Simon told us before she can't ever have kids. So that experience had been ripped from her. Now you're saying if she wants to stay with you she's never gonna get married." Within seconds Jayne was out of his seat and chasing after her as Mal shook his head at the complicated relationship that was unfurling before his eyes.

River had never been so upset. How could she possibly think that she could ever change Jayne? He only wanted one thing out of this relationship and it most certainly was not a marriage. She heard him yelling and chasing after her, but she continued on, not even wanting to see him.

"River! Wait" He finally reached her. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. "River I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" She asked. "Sorry that you said that or sorry that we won't ever get married?" HE was silent. "what did you want out of this relationship Jayne?" She felt the tears welling in her eye, but she held them back.

"I just want you." He said. She had to see if he could be honest. The old Jayne was a liar and a cheat. He knew that Simon was aware of the stunt on Ariel, but he had no clue she knew.

"Jayne. I just want you to answer a question for me." She said taking a deep breath. "Did you rat us out to the feds back on Ariel?" Jayne stood there with his mouth open unsure of how to continue. He could tell the truth and she would probably never speak to him again or he could lie and hope that she would not read his mind and they could continue the relationship.

"No." he lied. He knew the minute the words left his mouth he should have just come clean. Her face dropped and she stared up at him with sad eyes.

"You'll never change Jayne. I think whatever we were is over." She couldn't hide her tears anymore as she stared at the man she saw a future with once.

"I'm sorry River I never should have lied." He started "I never wanted you to know. I didn't want you to lose faith in me. Besides that I treated you okay though. Besides trying to kill you before Miranda." He tried to smile, but she glared at him.

"I didn't make her crazy. Hell, I didn't even want her on this ship." He heard his own words thrown back at him. He had never meant what he said. He just had a short fuse back then. She turned to walk away from him, but he stopped her.

"If I had meant that then why would I be with ya now?" He was trying desperately to hold on to her, but she was pulling away.

"She's cute, too. Except I don't think she's all there, you know? 'Course not all of her has to be." He heard his own sickening words thrown back at him. He wouldn't trade this girl for all the gold in the verse why couldn't she see that?

"Stop!" He said as she pulled away one last time. She listened turning around to face him. "I just wish you would listen to me for one gorram second."

"If wishes were horses we'd all be eating steak." She said sadly before walking of towards his house. How in the hell was he gonna fix this? He knew she wouldn't listen to him. Maybe he just had to let her go. Maybe she was never his to start with.

**Alright Please read and review. Let me know how you think this is going and if I messed anything up let me know and I'll do my best to fix it. Please review. Let me know what you like and what you hate. Your reviews bring joy to my day. : )**


	7. Chapter 7

**I want to thank everyone who has started following this story or favorited it. I especially want to thank everyone who had reviewed as those really give me the motivation to keep going. As always I do not own anything.**

Jayne knew he was in trouble. None of the women were talking to him and River wasn't even there at the breakfast table. Mal watched him as he tried to get Zoe's attention to pass him some pancakes, but she simply ignored him. Taking pity Simon passed him the food and was then glared at by Kaylee. Mattie walked in with a huge grin on his face and it grew when he saw Jayne sitting at the table.

"You fucked up big brother." He sat down and snickered as he piled food on his plate.

"Where's River?" Simon finally asked. He knew where she was, but he wanted to know what she was doing.

"Upstairs talking to Ma." Mattie smirked. It didn't take long for them to realize when River had told Mrs. Cobb what had happened because they heard the heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. Mrs. Cobb stood there staring at Jayne who refused to look up at her. When he finally looked up at his Ma he flinched as he sensed the anger and shame rolling off her.

"Jayne Cobb!" She said with such authority that even Mal would be listening. "Outside! Now!" She pointed to the door.

"Gonna finish my food first." He mumbled taking a bite. His mother walked across the room and grabbed him by the ear.

"I wasn't askin'" She spat as she pulled him outside by his ear. When they made it outside she released his ear, but you continued to stare at him with a mix of both anger and shame. "I raised you better!"

"Ma! I don't know what you're talking about." He started but immediately stopped his statement when she turned on him.

"You try to sell her back to the people, who destroyed her, then you try to kill her and then you treat her badly, but on top of everything she still loved you." He swallowed knowing just how bad he messed up. "Then you hurt her worse then you ever possibly could." She walked over and smacked him in the head. "What is wrong with you?" He didn't say anything. "I asked you a question."

"I'm not a child Ma!" He said sitting down on the swing on his mother's porch.

"Then stop acting like one." She yelled. "You know out of all the stupid things you do. The killing and the whoring." He flinched. He had no idea she knew. "I'm not stupid Jayne." She said flatly "That girl loved ya! Ya had a chance!"

"What do you mean loved" He asked. What's with this past tense Go se.

"I don't know how she feels now, but you hurt her." She said sadly. "Her future was never guaranteed and now that she sees a future she wanted it to be with you and now you tell her she doesn't have a future with you." Now that he thought about it he began to feel bad. "You won't marry her just like you won't marry those painted women you so often see. How does that make her feel?" Now he felt awful and he turned to go inside and talk to the girl. "Where do you think yer goin'" She asked with a smirk.

"Going to talk to River." He wondered why she stopped him

"Oh no you don't!" She grinned. "You men have chores to do and if you go up and talk to that girl you'll never come out of that bedroom." Jayne was dumbfounded by his Ma's bluntness "Now go get the other men and get to mucking out the stalls.

She finally worked up the courage to go outside. Slipping on a plain white prairie dress and forgoing her shoes she made careful light steps down the stairs. Jayne's childhood home was so different than her own. She could feel the love and warmth in every inch of this house. Her childhood home was dark and uninviting. She never felt loved and she never felt wanted and for one short minute in her existence she felt those things only to have them cruelly ripped from her. She walked outside and turned to see Jayne's Ma sitting on the swing smiling at her.

"He'll come around sweetheart." River stood there thinking on her words. "Give it time." River nodded and walked off the porch. She looked at the flower bushes sitting there beside her. She took in all the sights and sounds. She heard birds and horses. She felt the dirt and grass on her feet and she smelled the wonderful flowers that were right in front of her. She didn't want to leave. She would be perfectly content to stay here, in this moment, the rest of her life. She smiled as she picked a flower and brought it to her nose. She looked over to see Jayne staring at her while all the men worked around him. His eyes didn't move or blink as he took in her form. She smiled for a minute then turned and walked into the forest.

He looked up at his brother who had stopped working and was staring at the house. His brother was never one for working so it was no surprise that he had gotten distracted. Jayne didn't even bother to look up from his work as he spoke.

"You keep up that day dreaming Ma will whop you worse than she did me this morning." He smirked hoping for once not to be the one in trouble.

"Well I wouldn't be too concerned about me right now." Mattie laughed at his brother's stupidity. " 'Specially with little River walking out of the house looking like that." He nudged his brother with his elbow and Jayne looked up. There she was standing there looking like more of an angel than anyone had the right to. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail away from her face and she had on a simple white dress, but in it's simplicity it held such beauty. She looked up at him holding one of his Ma's flowers to her nose and she smiled at him. She held his gaze for just a moment before turning towards the forest and wandering off again.

"I had me a woman who looked like that I wouldn't be lettin' her wander off alone." Mattie winked at his brother " 'Course I would have married her the first chance I got." Jayne didn't move for a moment and then Mattie continued. "Well if yer not gonna go get her can I?" Before Mattie could move a muscle Jayne hopped the fence and ran off after her. Mrs. Cobb smiled at her son as he ran off after the girl Maybe he had finally pulled his head outta his butt.

River sat on a rock by the side of the lake. She had her toes in the water as she enjoyed the sunshine on her face. She heard the twigs snap behind her and she knew it was Jayne. She could smell him, very earthy and sweaty from the chores earlier. She wondered how long it would take him to say something.

"It's pleasant here. Quiet." She said. It was barely above a whisper, but he heard it. He didn't know what to say. He had hurt her so badly with words. He couldn't even protect her from himself. "I don't need protecting." She was still annoyed with him for thinking she was a child. "Maybe you don't love me. Maybe you never did. Maybe you never can." She sighed deeply and continued to play with the water.

"But you saw River. You saw that I loved you." He pleaded with her.

"I see a great many things that never come true. The future is never set. It always changes. I saw Book at our wedding." That was all she needed to say for him to know she's not always right. "I saw a baby." He fell silent.

"You tellin' me that Zoe ain't pregnant." He smirked trying to tease her, but she didn't laugh.

"I saw a baby with black hair and ocean blue eyes." He didn't say anything. He wasn't an idiot he knew what he meant. "We both know that can never happen. So I am not always right." She wiped a tear off her cheek and sat there for a moment. "Jayne I spent my entire life in the core being bored with boys. I never interacted with them. Then at the Academy being around boys wasn't allowed. I was with you because I thought this was going to go somewhere and then you treat me like one of those painted pieces of trash that you go to."

"River I-" She threw a rock at him smacking him in the forehead.

"I wasn't done." She glared

"I think I'm bleeding." He said holding his hand to the cut. She picked up another rock as a warning. He quickly shut his mouth.

"Jayne I had never been with someone. You took something that I cannot get back. It was a gift and it was special and you threw it away like trash." She wiped away at more tears. His face fell. She was a beautiful girl he figured that she would have been with someone by now. Although he never really thought to ask. "Of course you didn't ask. You only wanted one thing and once you got your wish you moved on, but I can't" She took a deep breath. "I want to hate you Jayne. I want to hate you so bad, but I can't because I love you." He closed the distance between them before she had a chance to throw the small rock in her hand. His mouth crashed into hers and he thought this was where he wanted to be and if this moment lasted forever he wouldn't really care.

Seconds turned into minutes and they finally had to break the kiss before the passed out due to lack of air. She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head. He loved her there was no doubt about it and he knew if given half the chance he would marry her now, but he wanted to take things slow. He wanted to give her time in case she changed her mind.

"Not gonna change my mind." She smiled at him. He kissed her again as he slid her dress up her legs. Her breath hitched slightly as his palms skimmed her thighs. He deepened the kiss as he pulled her panties aside. She already had his belt buckle down and was working on his pants. She moaned slightly as she felt him harden at her touch and with one swift movement he entered her. She gasped and moaned at the pain and pleasure.

River tried to remember what had occurred between the two of them as she laid there with him next to the lake, but it was a frenzy of clothes being torn off and nails scratching down his back as he kissed and licked her neck and jaw. She smiled at the memories and snuggled a little closer to him. He dragged his fingers through her hair.

"We're gonna have to be gettin' back here soon girlie." He kissed the top of her head before sitting up and pulling on his shirt.

"Aww. We was kinda hopin' you'd stay and introduce ya to yer lady friend." River pulled her dress on quickly before turning to look at the two men walking up to them. "Sweetheart ya don't have to be getting dressed on account of us." The shorter man smiled.

"Peter Samson." River looked at him like the piece of trash he was. "And Henry Cante." She looked to the taller man. Jayne didn't bother asking he was well aware of how she knew them.

"I see you told yer pretty little girlfriend about us." Pete smirked at Jayne.

"What cha want Pete?" Jayne pushed River behind him and continued to glare at both men.

"You have a debt to pay Jayne." Pete then looked at the girl Jayne called River. "Way I see it I can go to yer house kill yer family or ya can sell me that pretty little thing standin there behind ya."

"Ain't no ruttin' way yer getting' my woman." Jayne winked at her and she giggled just loud enough fro him to hear.

"I ain't given you a choice." Pete smirked motioning to the two men standing behind them with weapons at the ready.

"What are the chances of us makin' it out alive moony?" He whispered

"There isn't a chance." She leaned into his side and sighed. "Sorry. I was too distracted by your presence to detect the men coming up behind us." She gripped his hand tightly. He turned to her and leaned down to press his lips against hers.

"I'll come to get you." He said just loud enough for her to hear. "Keep yerself safe." She nodded as Henry grabbed her by the arm and lead her out of Jayne's sight. Pete made his way over to Jayne with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Got yerself a pretty little girl there don't ya." Jayne wanted so badly to hit him, but he had to help River and if he died no one would know where she was. "See here's what I'm thinking. I'm gonna let you live and you can spend the rest of yer days knowing that she's one piece of trim you can never have." Jayne clenched his jaw shut at the name he called her. "Or is she yer woman?" Pete laughed. "Mr. I will never take a wife has found himself a pretty little core girl to stay with. Tell ya what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take my turn with her then I'm gonna let all my men have their fun and then I'm gonna sell her to some slavers." As Pete finished his sentence Jayne felt something hit his head and his world went black.

He awoke a few hours later as the sun was setting. He immediately stood up and bolted for the farm. Everyone was sitting on the porch waiting for the two lovebirds to finally make it back. Mal and Mrs. Cobb knew something was wrong when Jayne ran out of the woods by himself. Mal ran over as quickly as he could to see what had happened. Everyone watched from the porch as Jayne animatedly told Mal what happened. Both men turned and made their way into the house to grab as many guns as they could.

"Where's my sister?" Simon was getting frantic. "Where's River?"

"Someone took her." Mal said flatly.

"What happened?" Mrs. Cobb asked not affected at all by the tense atmosphere.

"Peter Samson." That was all Jayne needed to say to make his Ma reach just inside the front door and grab her shot gun.

"Who the hell is Peter Samson?" Simon was getting more flustered as everyone began loading guns

"Remember that story I told ya?" Simon stared blankly " 'bout me double crossing someone." Simon realized where this was going. "Well that was Pete Samson and way he sees things id that River's payment fer what I done." Mal pushed passed both men eager to get his 'tross back.

"Like hell she is." With that Mal turned and headed off towards town.

When they made it there the sight before them was enough to make them stop. Pete's hideout was on fire and there standing in front of it staring at it unmoving was River. Mal motioned for them all to stop, but Jayne was having none of that. He walked up and turned River to face him.

"Ya okay moony?" He said looking in her eyes. She nodded. He looked at her face and rubbed a finger just near a deep cut on her cheek. "We need ta get ya to yer brother." She nodded again before turning to smile up at him.

"I killed them all." She said before following him towards the group. She took in the scared appearance of the group. Simon sucked in air while he looked at River's face.

"It's gonna need stitches Mei mei." He took a closer look. "It'll probably scar." She shrugged. "alright let's get you two to the ship and I'll get ya both fixed up." He said motioning to River and Jayne.

"Wait a minute. Why do I have to go to the infirmary?" Jayne whined like a spoiled child.

"While you may not have noticed Jayne. Everyone else did." Jayne continued to look at Simon like he was speaking a different language. "You have quite the gash on the back of your head."

As the crew piled back into the Cobb house Jayne and River followed Simon into the ship. Simon had determined River needed to get fixed up first. He wasn't gonna hear Jayne arguing that point. Jayne could barely look at the stitches in her face while Simon stitched up the gash in the back of his head.

"So what happened to that couple ya done told me about earlier?" He asked looking at the ground.

"The girl's uncle wanted her. He coveted her beauty and her brains. So to protect his beloved Abelard sent her away to a nunnery where she had to give up there son. The two lovers could no longer see each other, but he tool solace in the fact that she was safe. Her uncle, upset that he had been thwarted, ordered for an attack on Abelard and had him castrated." She smiled slightly as Simon and Jayne both winced. "He became a monk and the two lovers continued their love affair via letters, but never met again. They died apart from each other." She frowned.

"they never saw each other again?" Jayne asked

"No. Forever separated for her protection." She nodded. "I hate that story. I wish it had a happy ending for the two." Jayne didn't say anything he simply walked across the infirmary and kissed her gently. Simon taking the hint, and being done with his work anyways, left to go find Kaylee. "I love you Jayne" She smiled up at him while he thumbed her still numbed cheek.

"Love ya too moony." He smirked as she smacked him in the shoulder.

She was sleeping dreaming of what had transpired between the two in his bunk. While the first two times the had sex it had been a fast rushed frenzy. This time it was slow and sweet. River knew it was sex it was making love and she enjoyed it far more, but knew it was just for special occasions. As she dreamed peacefully at his side Jayne thought over the days events. He had almost lost her and that scared him more than anything. He thought back to what she had said in the clearing. _I was too distracted by your presence to detect the men coming up behind us. _She hadn't even known they were there. He had stopped her from protecting herself. Had he not been there she would have known. Hell he couldn't get around it if he hadn't been there they never would have come for her. His thoughts turned to the story she had told him. _to protect his beloved. _TO protect her he had to send her away, but her family was here. He couldn't send her anywhere. Moony probably wouldn't listen anyway. _Forever separated for her protection._ Jayne knew what he had to do. He quickly stood up unwrapping her limbs from around himself and got dressed. He wrote her a note hoping that maybe it would help with some of the pain, but he knew it would hurt the girl far more for him to stay. He placed the note on the dresser and turned to look at her one last time. He kissed her on the forehead before heading out thinking that this was for the best.

Two weeks she hadn't left his bunk. Simon didn't feel safe flying anywhere with her in a catatonic state. So they stayed on Heloise. Mrs. Cobb often sat with the girl saying her son must have had her reasons for leaving, but that she knew the pain she was in. No one really knew if she was listening and it scared them. They all sat around the kitchen table in the Cobb farm house talking about what could be done.

"We need to get some jobs done." Zoe said matter of factly.

" I know." Mal sighed "I just can't leave her here and it's too dangerous for her to fly in that state."

"She is more than welcome here." Mrs. Cobb said for the tenth time.

"I just don't understand why he would leave her like that?" Kaylee said on the verge of tears.

"Well if she stays I stay." Simon said

"No can do Doc. Need ya on the ship in case someone gets hurt." Mal said with an apology written all over his face. He had no desire to leave his little 'tross here either, but something had to be done about money.

"River is-" Simon was going to finish his statement with my sister and go into some long speech about how he freed her, but he was stopped when River walked into the room and finished his sentence a little differently.

"Pregnant." She sighed.

"What mei mei?" Everyone was dumb founded.

"River is pregnant." She looked around the room that held her family and friends one last time before passing out on the floor.

**Let me know what you think. I am addicted to reviews so if you could take the time to please write me one that would be great. Please read and review**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright this is a shorter chapter, but I hope you like it just the same. As always I do not own anything. **

Nate listened carefully to what River had said. Though his blood boiled to hear that she was having that Rim trash's baby, he knew that this was part of the deal. She would be his soon enough. He quickly made it back to his ship which was docked across town. He was lucky enough that the Alliance had given him a ship that would blend in. Though it wasn't quite up to the standards he was use to, it would do for now.

"Hello Mister Sauter." The Alliance operative smiled at him. It made Nate's skin crawl. "Do you have any news for us regarding Miss Tam?"

"Yes. She has just informed her crew that she is pregnant." He grimaced.

"Where is Mister Cobb?" The operative asked as he continued to smile.

"He left two weeks ago." Nate smiled that the idiot was out of the way.

"No worries. He will be found." The man shrugged.

"Alright, when does the Alliance get here to pick us up?" He felt dirty just being on a rim planet let alone the one that the idiot was from.

"Well not for about 8 months Mister Sauter." He looked at the younger man as if he had asked the stupidest question.

"Why so long? She's here and she's pregnant." He was growing upset with this deal.

"We can't have Miss Tam growing upset and losing the baby. It would be best if Miss Tam stayed with her group and calm until it's time for the baby to arrive." The operative nodded politely.

"River I don't care how long it takes. You will be mine. If I have to stay on the piece of shit planet for another ten years. You will belong to me."

River woke up in the infirmary and rolled her eyes at her brother's stupidity. Anytime anything happened to her it was automatically something that could be dealt with in the infirmary. She sat up to see no one was in there with her. At least he knew a simple fainting spell when he saw one and didn't bother to wait with her. She placed a hand gently on her flat stomach. Although there was no evidence to prove it she knew that there was a life growing inside her. The warmth was there and comforting and while she couldn't hear it yet she knew one day soon she would.

She placed her bare feet on the cold floor and stood up on wobbly feet. She grabbed the bed for stability and waited for the dizziness to pass. She was hoping that no one would bother her about the pregnancy, but it was unlikely. Zoe would most likely be her only ally in this situation. She made it outside and smiled at the feeling of the sun on her face. Mal was standing there waiting for her. He smiled and made his way over offering her his arm. She smiled back and took it. She could always count on Mal to be there for her no matter what the issue was.

"Where is everyone?" She said enjoying the silence for once.

"Kicked yer brother outta the infirmary and everyone else is giving you some space." He said walking her towards a trail that was lined with wild flowers.

"Thank goodness for small favors." She smiled picking a flower from the earth and placing it behind her ear.

"So yer gonna have my merc's baby huh?" Mal was always straight to the point and she liked that about him.

"That seems to be the situation, although with him not being here I wouldn't exactly call him your merc." She giggled which caused Mal to laugh for just a moment.

"Ya gonna be okay lit'l 'tross?" He stopped walking and faced her.

"Yea" She smiled down at her belly "We'll be fine." She looked around and sat down on a rock behind her.

"Well I'm hear fer ya" He sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I mean we'll all be here fer ya. Iffen ya need us that is." He shrugged looking back at the house.

"Well now that we got that awkward conversation out of the way. We need to talk about you Malcolm Reynolds." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"What did I do now?" He put his hands up in defeat.

"It's not something you did, but something you didn't do." She smirked slightly at him. "Why haven't you told Inara hw you feel yet?"

"It's complicated 'tross." He said.

"You're just Stubborn." She smiled and began to walk away from him. He watched her for a moment. He knew he shouldn't be seeing her the way he did. She was Jayne's and everyone could see that. Jayne was a complete idiot. He would come back eventually. She looked happy and beautiful with the sun shining on her face and hair. She was wearing a yellow sundress and her bare feet were delicately touching the ground. He smiled because he knew the reason, in that moment, why he had not spoken to Inara.

"You stupid selfish son of a whore!" They both turned in horror towards the sound of Simon yelling. It had come from the ship and immediately they took off running. When they got there they heard Simon yelling more expletives from the bridge. As Mal stepped in there he saw Jayne on the Wave with a straight face. Mal was stunned. He knew Jayne would eventually come back, but he had no idea it would be this soon. He watched as Jayne's face fell and he heard one word come from behind him.

"Jayne" It was barely above a whisper, but it carried such pain with it. Mal winced as he heard her voice break and she began to take shaky breaths. Before anyone could say anything about River's pregnancy Jayne cut the wave off and River in a moment of weakness sank to the floor in tears. Mal, not knowing what else to do sat there with his arms wrapped around her while Simon began trying to get back in touch with Jayne.

"Simon!" River stood up wiping tears away from her now hate filled eyes. "Leave him be. He made his choice." Before anyone could say anything she stormed out of the ship and into the Cobb house.

Two weeks. Two Gorram weeks he had been without her and it was killing him. He couldn't eat and he could hardly sleep. He had to remind himself it was for his own good. He got a job on another smuggling ship and he mostly kept to himself, but it was hard as he was sharing a bunk. His current bunk partner was about 25 and an idiot who was gonna get them both killed. His name was Ben and he thought the world of Jayne. As they sat in the bar together Ben was being a typical young man and eyeing the girls.

"Jayne." Ben nudged him causing him to turn around. "Looks like someone is eyeing ya up." He turned to see a woman in her thirties staring at him. She was tall, blonde and had curves in all the right places, but Jayne couldn't care less. He only had eyes for one girl and he had known the minute he left her on his home planet that he wouldn't ever be with another woman.

"Not my type." Jayne muttered turning back towards the bar.

"What do ya mean not yer type?" Ben eyed the woman carefully. "She's everyone's type." Jayne rolled his eyes and wondered if he had been this annoying once when he was trying to get trim.

"Well then I suggest ya go make yer move." Jayne paid for his drinks and walked out of the bar as Ben made his way over to the smiling woman. He missed her something fierce and it seemed nothing would help the pain in his heart. The night he left he had only taken three things with him Vera and two pictures of River. He wondered if maybe he should send Mal or Simon a wave to see how she was doing. He was no idiot he knew she would be upset for awhile, but she was a beautiful girl and he hoped she would find someone who could treat her right and buy her all the things she wanted. As he walked towards the ship he made the final decision to send a wave to Serenity. It took a few minutes, but thankfully he saw Simon's face staring back at him. At first he thought Simon was going to smile, but as realization came to him he could see his face growing redder as he remained quiet. He finally exploded and began to curse at him.

"You stupid, selfish, son of a whore." He deserved that. He continued to sit there as Simon yelled. He noticed movement behind Simon and Saw mal come into frame and then he heard it. It was faint, but audible. The voice carried so much pain it damn near broke his heart.

"Jayne" He saw her sink to the floor and could no longer stand it. He shut off the wave and stormed to his bunk. He sat there looking between the two pictures of River. One of her smiling. She was outside under a tree wearing a pretty blue dress with huge smile plastered across her face. The next one was his favorite. She and Jayne curled up on the couch sleeping a hint of a smile on both their lips. He turned as he heard Ben walk in. He looked back to the one of River in her pretty blue dress.

"Wow Jayne knocking up a core girl" Be raised hi eyebrows.

"What?!" Jayne turned to look at him in utter confusion.

"The pretty girl in yer picture." He paused "She's obviously from the core ain't no Rim girl and certainly ain't from a whore." Jayne was still confused.

"You obviously had that pretty little girl with a Core girl." Ben said flatly. "Though don't rightly know who'd let ya near a core girl."

"She ain't my daughter." Jayne spat.

"No?" Ben was now confused. "Who is she then? She's right Shiny." He smirked raising an eyebrow.

"She's my girl" Jayne said as his face reddened. "At least she was. Left her about two weeks ago."

"You left her?" He stammered. "Why? The way I see things I had something that good back home I sure wouldn't be on this ship sharing a room with another man."

"Did it to protect her." Jayne looked at the picture one more time before putting them up.

"Right… Well Captain's gotta job. We're gonna be raiding a small Alliance ship." Ben said sitting down across from him

"Well that should get interesting." Jayne laughed

"So River's gonna have a baby?" Wash asked for the tenth time.

"Yes dear" Zoe said growing more irritated by the second.

"Sorry lambietoes don't mean to be irritating. It's just kinda scary." Zoe raised an eyebrow at him "Well can you imagine it? A baby that's part Jayne and part River. That kid would either be the savior of humanity or the verse's greatest evil genius." Zoe smacked him on the arm "what you know it's true." Zoe motioned over towards River who was standing in the door way.

"Hey little one. How are you feeling?" Mrs. Cobb smiled at the girl.

"Okay." She sat down next to Wash "Jayne sent a wave." Everyone grew silent.

"And?" The older woman turned to ask. "What did he say?"

"Don't know. He turned it off as soon as he saw me." River answered flatly. They skipped over the subject as they talked about getting a job and leaving the planet. River froze. "I don't want to leave. I want to stay here."

"Well why don't you discuss that with your brother." Zoe offered.

"Yer welcome here as long as ya want." Mrs. Cobb said smiling at the girl "You too Zoe."

"I will go discuss things with my brother." River nodded politely and left the room.

"I don't like how she's polite and reserved now." Wash said to Zoe. "If she stays maybe you could stay with her. Get her out of her shell."

"Maybe that's a good idea husband." Zoe smiled at him and followed after River.

Mal and Simon were discussing what to do with River when the girl in question walked up to them. The light had gone from her eyes and she hardly smiled. It upset Mal way more than it should.

"What cha need lit'l 'tross?" Mal smiled at the girl.

"When you guys go on this run. I want to stay here." She said flatly. It wasn't a question she was simply informing them of her decision.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Simon said with some apprehension. Zoe walked up calmly listening to the discussion. It didn't sound like things were in River's favor.

"I'll stay with her Simon." Zoe smiled and wrapped an arm around the girl. "Need some time off."

"Alright. If Zoe is staying that's fine, but we'll be back as soon as we can." Simon smiled at the girl who was now looking at Zoe. She smiled for the first time in two weeks and Zoe was glad that it was reserved for her.

"Well why don't you have your brother help ya pack up I'm gonna have a few words with the Captain here." She looked at Mal who still had a concerned look on his face while he stared at River. "Make sure he doesn't get shot." They all turned to hear River giggle at the joke. She watched as a smile graced Mal's face and Zoe knew exactly what was going through his head. As River turned and walked out of sight with Simon trailing behind her she turned on Mal.

"How long sir?" She glared at him.

"What?" He asked surprised that Zoe had caught on so quickly.

"How long have you been in love with River sir?" She continued her glare which made Mal nervous.

"I don't know what yer talkin' bout Zoe" He said turning to walk away.

"This isn't good for her Sir!" Zoe hollered to his back "You'll just confuse her. This isn't what she needed."

"I know." He whispered and walked towards his bunk.

**I want to thank everyone who has favorited, reviewed of began following this story. I really appreciate it. Please read and review. Reviews are love so let me feel loved and let me know what you think. Even if it's something you hate or if I messed up. Let me know.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright new chapter is here! As always I do not own anything.**

Jayne knew he was sleeping. First reason he knew he was sleeping was River was standing in front of him second reason was that she was smiling at him. Now he didn't know much about women, but he knew enough that if ya left them after they profess their love for ya they're not too happy to see ya when ya come back. She looked beautiful in a red dress that just met her thighs and her hair pulled back into a bun.

"Hello Jayne." Her voice was soft and musical. He wanted to run to her to hold her and kiss her and never let her go. She smiled at him and he could no longer contain himself he sprinted towards her and wrapped her in his arms. She laughed at him and he couldn't help, but laugh as well.

"I've missed you moony." He pressed his lips to hers and felt warmth.

"And I you." She placed a hand against his cheek. "You need to come home. I need you now more than ever."

"I can't. I have to protect you and by staying away I can do that." He frowned at her. Though he knew he was speaking the truth he hated the words that left his mouth.

"I am not Heloise and you are not Abelard." She pulled her hand away from his face. "I need you here. They're coming for me." She began to back away from him as terror filled her eyes. "Jayne!" She screamed as arms wrapped around her abdomen and pulled her away. He couldn't see who was pulling her away, but he did see two blue gloved hands as they ripped her away from his sight.

"River!" He reached out for her, but felt a small warm sensation on his arm. He looked down to see two blue eyes matching his staring up at him. He would have sworn that the child staring up at him was himself at a much younger age if the child hadn't opened his mouth and spoke.

"Daddy! Help mommy they're taking her." Jayne sat up straight in his bed. He looked around to see Ben standing there staring at him. He had a smirk on his face as he went around the bunk gathering up his guns.

"She's got ya whipped." Ben teased.

"What cha talkin' 'bout?" Jayne sat up and rubbed his face trying to wake himself up.

"Yer girl. River." Ben stopped and smirked at him. "Ya screamed out her name."

"Just a bad dream."Jayne brushed off the dream.

"Well start getting' ready. 'Bout to board the Alliance cruiser." Ben rolled his eyes. "Don't know where the captain gets his information, but someone should tell him that the Alliance hasn't been around since the Miranda wave was sent out."

"You believe that kid yer as dense as a rock." Jayne smirked as he strapped Vera to himself and took one last look at the pictures of River.

"C'mon lover boy. We got work ta do." Ben smirked walking out of the bunk.

It hadn't taken long to kill the Alliance crew on the ship there had only been five men. The captain was after the money on board, but Jayne was hoping this piece of crap held information about the academy and if he was lucky information about the order that River was talking about. Ben was in the infirmary grabbing things they needed nothing he needed or wanted, but it did contain some file cabinets that looked promising. He quickly broke the locks off the cabinets, which earned him some confused looks from Ben, and began to rifle through the files.

"What are ya doin'?" Ben asked walking over to him

"Lookin' fer some files. Help me." Jayne said Ben nodded and began to look with him.

"What exactly are we lookin' for?" Ben asked

"Look fer the name River Tam." Jayne continued to look through the files and he was losing hope as he neared the end of the cabinets.

"Got two files here. Only one 'bout River though." Jayne looked at him with confusion evident in his eyes. "The other on is on a Simon Tam. Look related don't think you have to worry 'bout yer girl bein' married." Ben gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"She's not married." Jayne ripped Simon's file from his hand and glared. He looked inside and saw Simon's picture staring back at him. "That's her brother. Big pain in the ass prissy doctor from the core. Wonder why they got a file on him." Ben just shrugged and returned to ransacking the infirmary. Jayne opened the files and began reading, but two sentences in he got upset because he couldn't understand anything. "Can't understand a ruttin' thing in here." He thought for a moment. "But I know someone who can." He smirked.

"What are ya goin' on about over there?" Ben said not turning to look at him.

"I gotta head home." Jayne smirked and walked to where the captain was. He didn't care how long it took he was heading back to River and that was reason enough to breath easier.

The job had only taken a month, but Simon and Mal were both excited to get back to Heloise and back to River. Though Mal would never admit it he had been extremely worried about River and the fact they had left her so shortly after finding out she was pregnant. He couldn't imagine how much pain she was in. Finding out you were pregnant shortly after the guy left you. It was tough for anyone let alone River. Simon was standing next to him near the cargo bay door and they waited for the inevitable jolt that would tell them they were on the ground.

"You know my sister is in a very fragile state right now and I don't think she needs any…" Simon thought about his next words carefully. "Distractions."

"Don't know what your talkin' 'bout." Mal said looking straight ahead.

"Listen Mal" Simon sighed and turned to look at the Captain. "I know that you have feelings for my sister." Mal opened his mouth to speak, but Simon continued on his rant. "What I don't know is what exactly they are. Let me just tell you that I don't think it would be wise to tell her about your feelings or act on them. She's gonna have enough on her plate and I would like for all of us to help her the best we can, but if you have other intentions that may cause her to slip back into her old ways I will have to kill you." Simon turned back to the doors when he felt Serenity settle onto the planet.

"I have no intention to harm your sister in any way." Mal said calmly.

"What about Inara?" Simon asked "What are you going to do about her?"

"I don't know. Honestly Doc, I really haven't had time to think." Mal smirked. "Y'all keep me busy."

"That we do." Simon smiled as the doors opened to reveal River and Zoe smiling up at them. Two things hit Simon at once. How happy River looked. Her hair was pulled back and she was wearing a very plain white prairie dress that he was sure Jayne's mother had bought for her and the second was that her hands were laid carefully over a very round stomach. He looked over to Mal who also had his mouth hanging wide open. "How long were we gone?" Simon finally asked. There was no way that River had gotten that big in that short amount of time.

"A month. Do you remember her being that pregnant when we left?" Mal whispered trying to keep his smile up as to not upset River.

"I'm gonna have to examine her to make sure nothing is wrong." Simon said staring at his sister's much larger stomach. Even if they were off on the date she was large.

"Hello Simon." She smiled up at him. "You look confused."

"Well just … concerned." Simon hugged her tightly. "Mind if I take you into the infirmary and do an ultrasound?"

"Only if Zoe can come. She wants to know the sex and I said I wouldn't tell her. She's been bugging me this entire month." River grimaced at Zoe who laughed at the young girl. Simon hadn't looked at Zoe yet, but River was nearly as big as her.

"You know the sex of Zoe's baby?" River nodded.

"It talks to me." She smiled patting Zoe's stomach.

"Do you know the sex of your baby River?" Simon asked motioning towards the ship. River frowned at him.

"No that is a mystery." River looked down at her belly rubbing it gently. "Much like its father it's a little harder to read. When I try I get a headache."

"Well let's just go make sure everything is okay." Simon nodded as he led her into the ship with Zoe trailing.

Zoe smiled at Mal who was just standing there listening with his mouth hanging wide open. The captain was awful at hiding his emotions.

"You better close your mouth or you'll start catching flies, sir." Zoe laughed as she walked by him.

The infirmary remained the same since they had seen it a month ago. They were short a few supplies, but everything had remained in place and from what River noticed there had really been no need to use it. She turned to see Mal had walked in behind him still eyeing her stomach warily.

"Alright River climb on up." Simon motioned to the table as he readied the machine.

"No. Zoe first." River smiled. "Then she'll stop bugging me." She watched Zoe climb up on the table out of no where Wash was beside her. River smiled at the happy couple as they watched their child move around on screen.

"Alright Zoe. Everything looks great." Zoe looked at Simon hopefully. "Your daughter is healthy." Simon smiled at the couple and printed out some pictures for them. Wash smiled and kissed Zoe on the forehead. It took Zoe a few minutes to get off the table and she frowned at the way River so easily hopped up on the table. Zoe smirked at Mal when choked when River lifted up her dress revealing her swollen belly. She had thrown on a pair of shorts on underneath so no one was uncomfortable.

"Alright River." Simon said moving the probe around on her stomach. "Looks like everything is okay. You're just further along then we thought. Maybe 6 months. A month behind Zoe." Simon smiled at his sister.

"Not possible." She said flatly. "The earliest the child could have been conceived was five months ago. Two months after Zoe" She continued to look at the screen.

"Well then the baby is just a bit big. We're gonna have to keep an eye on you." River nodded as she agreed.

"So what is it boy or girl?" Zoe asked excitedly. Mal was shocked, but if there was an appropriate time for Zoe to behave like every other woman now would be the time.

"Boy." Simon said. River smiled at the fear in his voice. The only thing running through his head was the fact that this child would probably take after Jayne rather than River.

"So a boy." Mal said rubbing his head. "Well let's hope he takes after his mother. What do you think River? You see anything?" She shook her head while laughing.

"As I said before. He is a mystery. He is too hard to read just like his father." She giggled as Simon, Wash and Zoe grimaced.

"A boy." They all turned to see Jayne's mother standing in the infirmary door with Mattie. Mattie had a bloody cloth wrapped around his hand. "Well I could have told ya that." She smiled at the young girl on the table. River quickly hoped off and walked out of the infirmary. She heard Simon tell Mattie that he was going to need stitches for the cut on his hand. As she walked outside she looked to Zoe and Wash who were hugging and kissing while looking at the ultrasound picture. She looked down at the picture of her son and frowned. There would be no happy hugs and kisses as she shared the news. She looked at the happy couple and felt the tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't watch anymore and with one last sad look she wandered off into the woods trying her best not to raise any suspicion.

"Think you two can knock it off with the happy family stuff." Mal said sternly to Zoe and Wash as he watched River make her way to the woods. "Think this might be a little hard for her." He nodded towards where River had run off.

"Sorry Sir." Zoe frowned as she caught the hem of River's dress walking into the woods. "We weren't thinking. Do you want me to go after her?" Zoe felt awful.

"No I'll do it." Mal said walking off after the girl.

He found her sitting by the lake with her feet dangling in the water. She was staring at the ultrasound picture in her hands and smiling. Mal's heart skipped a beat as he saw her. She looked like some woodland creature that he had no right to be seeing. The sun was beating down on her and the stray hairs surrounding her head caused the light to look like a halo. She turned and smiled at him.

"You know in all my time at the academy I never thought I would have children." She smiled at him sweetly. "They shut down my reproductive system, I thought for forever, but turns out it was just temporary, and I thought I would never have children." She patted her stomach lightly. "And now not only am I going to have a child, but the father isn't even here to share in the experience." She felt the tears running down her cheeks.

"I know Lit'l Albatross and I'm sorry." He frowned. He hated seeing a woman cry, but it was especially painful to see her cry. "I was thinking… Every boy needs a father and I… I" He stumbled over his words. River started to giggle at him.

"No Captain." She said with a straight face. "No I will not marry you and allow you to father my child."

"But, why?" He asked almost hurt by how easily she turned him down. "So I take it that you know how I feel about you?"

"I know how you think you feel about me." He looked at her in total confusion. "You are in love with Inara not me. Your brain is looking for any escape route to not have to tell Inara how you feel about her that it made up feelings for someone else." She smiled at him sweetly. "When you tell Inara how you feel towards her your feelings for me will stop."

"What makes you think that?" He smirked knowing most likely she was right.

"Well Captain I am a genius." She laughed and it sounded like bells. "You love Inara and you need to tell her before she leaves for good."

"Alright lit'l one. You ready to head back to the farm?" She nodded and took his arm as he walked her out of the woods. They walked in silence as River tried to clear her head and calm her nerves. As they walked out of the woods they both turned to see a small mule pull up to the farm. Thinking it was a friend of the family the Mrs. Cobb and Mattie ran out of the house. They were followed by Simon and the rest of the crew. Mal noticed a small tug on his arm as River stopped walking.

"River?" He turned to look at her. She had a strange look on her face somewhere between love and loathing and had her small hand splayed across her belly. "What's wrong?"

"Jayne…" She whispered. Mal turned to see Jayne standing there hugging his mother and younger brother.

"Well I'll be…" Mal said pulling her a little closer and continuing to walk towards Jayne. "C'mon little one. This is what you wanted right?" She nodded but remained silent. Jayne who had been laughing with Wash about what he had been up to stopped as River walked up to them. It took four minutes for his eyes to travel down her body. Four minutes before he noticed the bump protruding from her abdomen and four and a half minutes before she hauled off and punched him in the face. He dropped fast and landed on his ass.

"Saw that coming." Simon smirked as he watched his sister run off into the woods.

Jayne's stomach clenched as he saw the house in the distance. He wondered how everyone would greet him. He wouldn't be surprised if everyone wanted to kill him. He had seen River when he sent that wave. Her eyes had circles underneath them and she looked pale and sickly. He had done that to her and he felt awful, but he had felt that it was in her best interest. He slowed the mule down as he parked it in front of the house. His mother was the first one out followed by Mattie.

"My boy!" His mother threw her arms around him then quickly smacked him in the head. "You left that poor girl here by herself. She stayed in bed for two weeks. Not moving, not speaking, and having to be forced fed. What is wrong with you?" She smacked him one more time for good measure.

"Hey big bro. Be prepared. She's gonna kick yer ass." Mattie smirked causing Jayne to laugh as Simon and the crew, minus Mal and River, came out of the house. He expected Simon to be mad and hit him, but Simon simply gave him a smiled and a nod.

"Hey Jayne I was wondering when you were gonna come back still owe me the candle light dinner ya promised." Wash batted his eyes like a woman. Everyone started laughing. Jayne looked up as he heard two sets of feet approaching. He looked up to see River walking up attached to Mal's arm. She looked scared almost as if he was a mirage and would disappear at every moment. He slowly took all of her in He hair was pulled back into a ponytail which left her face exposed to the sun causing her cheeks to redden. Her eyes looked pained, but hopeful and she was wearing a plain dress that his mother probably bought for her. As his eyes made it to her stomach he stopped. Her belly once flat and smoothed had grown and rounded. He stopped breathing for just a moment and then felt a sharp pain on his cheek. He looked around to see he had landed on his ass and was staring up at a laughing crew and a worried Mal.

"Saw that coming." Simon laughed at him as Mattie extended an arm to help him up.

"What the hell happened?" Jayne said still trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Well you see Jayne when a man and a woman really love each other…" Wash started, but was cut off by a look from Zoe that said '_Now is not the time'_

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" He was bordering on rage.

"Well you sent us a wave and we were gonna say something, but when you saw her you shut it off." Simon said.

"Couldn't send one ta me?" Jayne really wanted to hit Simon in the face.

"She didn't want us to." Mal said calmly looking towards the woods where River had wandered off. "I'm gonna go check on 'tross." He said walking away.

"Maybe I should. Seems we got some things to discuss." Jayne said following Mal.

"Haven't ya done enough?" Mal turned on him and Jayne saw something in his eyes. Hate and understanding and… He was worried. Son of a bitch!  
"What the hell did you do?!" He said knocking Mal backwards.

"Don't know what yer talkin' 'bout Jayne." Mal shrugged.

"You fell in love with her. You fell in love with MY GIRL!" Jayne yelled. He didn't care if everyone heard and he definitely didn't hear the sharp intake of breath from Inara as she ran back into the ship.

"She's not yer woman! I recall correctly you left her here. By herself." Mal was yelling back.

"I left to protect her!" Jayne was getting sick of this argument. He just wanted to go see River.

"Yea and ya did a real good job. Left her here by herself with yer baby in her and ya didn't even care to check on her. You knew didn't you! Ya knew and ya ran off and left –" Mal was cut off when Jayne punched him and took off after River. Zoe stepped up and handed him a handkerchief for his lip which was dribbling blood down his chin.

"Think they'll be okay?" Mal asked more concerned for Jayne than River.

"They'll be fine, Sir. You should be more concerned about Inara who's crying her eyes out in her shuttle." She frowned at the captain's stupidity.

"Ai ya!" He said popping up on his feet and taking off towards his shuttle

**Alright I want to thank everyone for following and reviewing. It really means alot. Please read and review and let me know what you think. Reviews are love people and they let me know people are still reading. They also give me the juice to keep writing so please be kind and review. **


	10. Chapter 10

**As always I do no own anything.**

"We have a wave coming in from Mr. Sauter, Sir." The young Alliance recruit turned to look at his superior.

"Well let's see what he wants shall we?" The older man smiled and turned towards the wave. "Hello Mr. Sauter to what do we owe this pleasure?"

"I have news regarding River's pregnancy." Nate smiled at the man waiting to be pat on the head like a child.

"Ah yes. From our sensors we see that Miss Tam's pregnancy is progressing nicely." He smiled. Did this boy really think they were stupid enough to not keep tabs on River?

"Yes well I have news that River is five months pregnant now. So she is much farther along than we thought." Nate smiled just like a child waiting to receive a pat on the head.

"Yes we are very aware of Miss Tam's state." He smiled at the young mans stupidity.

"So what the hell am I doing on this god forsaken Rim planet?!" Nate was getting frustrated being stuck here.

"We need you there so we know exactly where she is. Our sensors keep us updated on her pregnancy, but they don't tell us where she is. That is your purpose Mr. Sauter." He didn't particularly care him, but he was necessary. Soon he wouldn't be of any concern himself or the Alliance. "So we will be in touch Mr. Sauter." He smiled before turning off the wave and turning back towards the recruit. The young men from the core had no idea what it was to work for something they wanted. He was almost positive that Mr. Sauter had never worked a day in his life, so in that aspect he knew that Mr. Sauter didn't earn River Tam and it made him smile that he knew he wouldn't be getting anywhere near her.

Mal ran around the ship in a daze. He checked her shuttle first, but of course she wasn't there. That would have been too easy. He checked his own bunk and then the rest of the crew's, but to no avail. He finally found her sitting in the kitchen drinking some of her tea that made the whole ship smell. He ha no idea how she made the tea so quickly, but these were not the things he needed to be thinking on.

"Inara…" he sighed looking at her. She was so beautiful and regal. He never would have thought that someone like her would have fallen for someone like him.

"Mal." She said holding her nose between two fingers. "I don't know what you can say or do that will make up for what just happened."

"What the hell did I do?" He asked sitting down across from her.

"Really?" She glared at him. How can he be that stupid? "You have feelings for River! She's so young and she's pregnant with another man's baby!" She had never wanted to hit someone before, but there was a first time for anything.

"Why aren't you yelling at Jayne?" he asked. Wasn't like he was doing anything different from him.

"Well first thing is that he's the one who got her pregnant and He's Jayne!" She yelled back at him. Her calm demeanor now shattered.

"Well…yea" Mal couldn't thing of anything to say. She looked so beautiful standing there her face red and tear streaked, her hair all messy. He couldn't help himself he reached across the space between them, grabbed the back of her head and brought her mouth to his. When the broke apart she stared at him with confusion in her eyes.

"But…. River?" She asked not knowing what else to say. Her brain wasn't working well enough to construct proper sentences.

"Well the way our lit'l witch put it was that I was too scared to tell ya I loved ya and so it made a choice to go after her because she was the only other available female on the boat." He smiled at her.

"You… love… me?" she breathed in deeply. She was scared and nervous and so happy all at the same time.

"More than you'll ever know." He smiled and grabbed the back of her head bringing her lips to his once more.

River had read countless books in her short life. She loved reading the classics the best. When she would get older it was almost impossible to get alone time with her mother trying to set her up with suitors so she would run out into the trees that lined their estate and read high up where no one could fins her. It would drive her mother absolutely insane, but River loved those few minutes she had to herself. It was quiet and she was alone for once. Old habits die hard and when she wanted to be alone on the ship she would hide in the air shafts and any other small hideaways she could find. Now that she was back to a world with an over abundance of trees she quickly climbed up and stayed in the branches so no one could find her. She placed a tiny delicate hand on her stomach as she felt a kick.

"It's okay." She cooed quietly. "Everything is okay." She started to rub small circles around her belly as she smiled. She turned quickly when she heard several twigs snap. Jayne had followed her through the woods. She should have known, he was a tracker after all. He looked around side to side searching for her. He hadn't even bothered to look up. She didn't blame him there was no way any other pregnant girl could climb a tree like she did. "You are the most frustrating person I have ever met!" She hollered. He looked around frantically when he heard the sound of her voice. "You're also a horrible tracker!" She laughed at him mockingly.

"Well moony any hints to where ya might be hidin'" He yelled back. She grinned at her belly when she felt another swift kick. Somehow the baby knew who he was.

"No we wish to remain hidden." She mocked.

"Well can we talk like this at least?" He was beginning to panic at the fact that he couldn't find her.

"I suppose that would be okay." She smiled down at his stupidity. He was right below her sitting on some rather large rocks that she had used to scale the tree.

"How are ya?" He winced at his stupidity.

"Really?" She gasped "Well if you haven't noticed I've gotten a little larger."

"Sorry. I panicked." He shrugged. "It's really hard to talk to ya like this." He paused looking around. "Where are you?"

"Look up." She sighed. He looked up to see her about fifteen feet up in the tree staring down at him like some kind of mountain lion hunting food. He smiled for a brief second before it set in that she was pregnant and much more likely to fall.

"Get down from there." He hollered up his demand. She shook her head and rolled her eyes when he looked up with pleading eyes. If she fell she was not only in danger of dying, but so was his child. She gave him one final sigh and rolled her eyes before she carefully climbed back down. She felt warm hands against her hips as she put her feet on the ground. She smacked his hands away and turned around to glare at him.

"River, I am so sorry." He started. "I didn't know." He tried to grab her shoulders to pull her closer, but she stepped away.

"I know you didn't know. You would never have left if you did." She was doing her best to keep the tears from flowing. "I just don't understand why you left?"

"I was trying to protect you." He sat back down on the rocks. He looked so sad and so depressed and River had such a hard time staying mad at him when she stared into his eyes. She hoped that their child would have the same ocean blue eyes as his father.

"Why? You've never needed to protect me before." She couldn't understand is reasoning.

"When we were attacked you said you couldn't tell they were coming because I was there and I pretty much blocked them out. Why?" He figured now would be a good time for answers.

"Your thoughts are so loud and one dimensional it calms me and allows me to focus on blocking everything out." She smiles at him. "It's what first attracted me to you."

When she smiled he stopped breathing for just a second. She looked absolutely beautiful when she smiled. His eyes trailed down to the large bump on her stomach. It was strange for him to think that he was going to be a father. He had never considered having children, but he couldn't imagine having them with anyone but her. He began to panic when she made a strange face and he noticed her hand dropped to her stomach.

"What's wrong?" He hopped up in his panic wondering if he would have to carry her back to her brother.

"Nothing just kicking." She patted her stomach gently. "You know you leaving did absolutely nothing." She smiled up at him. She wanted to forgive him so badly, but she couldn't trust what other stupid idea he might get into his head to keep her safe.

"Why's that?" his voice dropped as he took a step closer to her. She automatically stepped backwards which cause his face to fall.

"Cause someone takes after you." She patted her stomach. "Calms me. It's hard to get a read on it. I only just found out what I'm having. Had to get an ultrasound."

"What…?" He wanted to know everything about the child that he had helped create. "What is it?"

"A boy." She smiled and felt more repetitive kicks. She quickly grabbed his hand and laid it across her belly. He stared down at it with a child like expression.

"Well a boy." He grinned. "Any idea on the name?" He figured she would have thought of something.

"Sam." She said watching him. "Short for Samuel. I don't have a middle name picked out yet. I figured you could do that part."

"Why Sam?" He couldn't think of anyone he knew name Samuel or that she knew anyone named Samuel that she would want to name their baby after.

"That was his name." He gave her a confused look "the mudder who jumped in front of that bullet. The one who saved you." He smiled at her. That kid who had given up everything so he could live. He couldn't think of a better name for his son. He tried to wrap an arm around her shoulders, but she stepped away. "I want you to be involved Jayne. I just don't think I'm ready to be involved with you yet." She frowned when he did. "I'm sorry. I love you I really do, but I don't know when you're going to think you're protecting us and take off again."

"I wouldn't leave unless I had to you know that." She gave him the same look she gives Simon when he puts his foot in his mouth. "Alright sometimes I have as much sense as yer brother, but I wouldn't leave if I didn't think it was necessary."

"I don't want to be like your mother. Waiting for the day you come home." She knew she struck a nerve bringing up his mother, but it worried her. "How often do you actually come home to see your mother?"

"I was here five years ago." He said sadly. He knew that his mother wanted him to visit more often, but there was no steady work here when he was younger and to help support his mom and Mattie when he was still sick he had to find work out in the black.

"I don't know if I can handle seeing you every five years." She looked down at her belly.

"Aren't you going to live on Serenity with Sam and me?" He was beginning to panic.

"Sam and I" She corrected rolling her eyes. "Do you want to raise a baby on a ship where he'll only see land and sky every few weeks?" He hadn't thought of that. He had loved growing up running around and causing trouble. Chances are his own child would cause way too much havoc on a tiny ship. "We all know how much damage your child could do on a tiny ship with no way to get out any energy." She smirked at him.

"Are you teasing me moony?" He nudged her.

"I might be." She raised and eyebrow at him almost daring him to kiss her. Just as he was going to lean in she spoke up again. "kaylee is looking for us. She wants to go shopping."

They found Kaylee just on the outside of the forest tapping her foot impatiently. Her eyes lit up when she saw Jayne helping River over the fallen trees. "Oh Shiny! You two worked everything out!" She clapped her hands rapidly in front of her.

"Not quite Kaylee, but thank you for your enthusiasm." River smiled at the girl who was always so happy for any good news. "You wanted to go shopping?"

"Yea…" Kaylee was taken aback by the small girl's bluntness. "Jayne's ma said there's a small market in town. People selling their wares and stuff." River smiled at the girl and nodded her acceptance with the day's plans.

"Do you want to go?" She turned to ask Jayne.

"I'll go where ever River goes." He placed his hands on the small girl's shoulders and River looked up and smiled before she could stop herself.

The market had all the small town charm River thought it would. Some stalls were selling fruit and other selling meat products. River looked at the apples with hunger in her eyes. It took Jayne only a second to walk over and buy her one. She thanked him with a nod and bit into it with child like glee. They made it another twenty feet before she realized the rest of the group had split off and they were walking by themselves. She felt a warm sensation in her hand and looked down to see Jayne's hand covering hers. She smiled and continued to look in the stalls. When they stopped to look at a shop selling dresses to see if they might have one to fir her ever expanding belly River heard a shriek of shock and joy. She turned to see a woman not much taller than her with long blonde hair and eyes as blue as Jayne's smiling up at the man holding her hand.

"Well Jayne Cobb!" She cried. "Didn't think I'd see you in town again." Jayne looked at the woman with confusion and fear in his eyes.

"Hey Lily. How are ya?" He asked almost scared of the answer.

"Well fine way to ask someone you haven't seen in years." She glared. "And after the way you left me." She slapped him on the shoulder playfully. "You know we can always get together later tonight if you want." Her voice dipped as she tried to be sexy.

"Don't think that's a good idea." He said pulling River a little closer as he stepped back from the woman. The woman just now realized that there was someone standing beside him. She glared at the smaller girl like she was something she might step on.

"Jayne who's this?" She said icily.

"This is my Girl River." He smiled happily down at the smaller woman. "And this is our baby Sam." He splayed his hand across her belly.

"Oh really." She glared again at the new competition she had. "I think there's someone you should meet. Hey MAMA!" She shouted across the market. They both watched as an older woman walked up with a small girl in her arms. "Jayne I'd like ya to meet your daughter. I named her Abbey." She smirked at the younger girl daring her to challenge her authority. Jayne was speechless. He was always safe. Always. He looked down to River in a panic hoping she wouldn't be upset, but she was staring at Lily with such hate in her eyes.

"You're a liar." River said calmly.

"Excuse me?" Lily scoffed amazed that the tiny girl had dared to speak to her.

"Jayne is not that girl's father." River nodded with assurance. "Your eyes are blue and Jayne's are blue." She paused making sure it was sinking in. "But your daughters eyes are brown. Two people with blue eyes cannot have a child with brown eyes." She smiled at the fact she had outsmarted the older woman.

"Are you calling me a liar?" The woman was bordering on hysteria.

"Yes." Before Jayne could react Lily reached across to slap River. River quickly grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her. Lily dropped to the ground in pain as river placed a small booted foot on her back. "Next time you dare to strike me, my child, or Jayne or anyone else in my family I will rip your arm off. Do you understand?" Jayne couldn't believe what was going on.

"Yes."Lily said through her teeth.

"Good." River smiled as she released her. "Let's go home Jayne." As they turned to walk away Jayne smiled down at her.

"I love you River Tam." He smiled.

"I know." She grinned.

**Alright what did you guys think of the new chapter? Let me know please read and review. Also I am only getting one review for each chapter from the same person. If I was getting one review from different people each chapter I would be fine, but it's just a bit concerning that no one is reading so like I asked before please read and review to let me know you guys are reading. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright guys I completely agree that the first version of this chapter moved too fast so here is the updated version. I do not own anything and no profit was made from this.**

The air was sticky and smelled of wet dewy grass. It was a peace she had never known anywhere else and she couldn't help, but feel that the feelings she was having were fitting. She was sitting on the porch swing reading a book of poetry silently. The baby was kicking something fierce and if he wasn't sleeping apparently neither was she. She sighed and rubbed the left side of her ballooning stomach as she felt several more rounds of kicks. She had been sleeping on the ship, Mrs. Cobb's house only had three rooms and even though Jayne had offered to share his room with her it didn't feel right. She hated staying on the ship when it was planet side, but things between Jayne and herself were too awkward. So just about every night this week she made the walk from Serenity to the porch or to her favorite spot; _their spot._ She turned quickly as she heard the screen door open and slam shut. She regretted the decision as the baby placed several hard kicks to her side again. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on her side again as she let out a loud sigh.

"I swear you're trying to kill me from the inside out." She cooed to her belly.

"What?!" She looked to see Jayne standing there with a concerned look.

"Nothing just talking to your child." She smiled trying to calm him. "He's up so I guess I am."

"Huh." He grunted taking a seat next to her. "Guess he is just like me. I could never sleep all the way through the night."

"Sounds about right." She tried to find her place again. "Hopefully he'll be more like me when he's born though. I don't think I can handle more than one of you." She teased causing him to chuckle.

"What cha readin'?" He asked looking at the cover for her book.

"Poems." She said returning to her place and beginning to read silently.

"Why?" He asked almost amused that she would take up her time with that.

"Because I happen to like them you uncultured jerk!" She said it sternly but did her best to keep her voice quiet so as not to wake anyone up.

"Yea well you'll never catch me reading that go se." He smirked winking at her.

"I guarantee you I can find a poem you will like." She said with utmost certainty.

"Well why don't you start with the one you're readin'" He offered.

"You're not going to like it." She raised an eyebrow at him. He thought for a moment before answering.

"But you do." He smirked "so try me." She tried to calm herself and slow her heart rate, but gave up before starting the poem.

"_It was many and many a year ago _

_In a kingdom by the sea _

_That a maiden there lived whom you may know_

_By the name of ANNABEL LEE;_

_And this maiden she lived with no other thought_

_Than to love and be loved by me._

_I was a child and she was a child _

_In this kingdom by the sea;_

_But we loved with a love that was more than love-_

_I and my Annabel Lee;_

_With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven_

_Coveted her and me._

_And this was the reason that long ago _

_In this kingdom by the sea _

_A wind blew out of a cloud chilling_

_My beautiful Annabel Lee;_

_So that her highborn kinsman came_

_And bore her away from me _

_To shut her up in a sepulchre_

_In this kingdom by the sea._

_The angels not half so happy in heaven _

_Went envying her and me-_

_Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know _

_In this kingdom by the sea)_

_That the wind came out of the cloud by night _

_Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee._

_But our love it was stronger by far than the love_

_Of those who were older than we-_

_Of many far wiser than we-_

_And neither the angels in heaven above _

_Nor the demons down under the sea _

_Can ever dissever my soul from the soul_

_Of the beautiful Annabel Lee._

_For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams_

_Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;_

_And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes_

_Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;_

_And so all the night-tide I lie down by the side_

_Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride _

_In the sepulchre there by the sea _

_In her tomb by the sounding sea." _She read through the poem slowly and as she finished she looked p at him with questioning eyes. He seemed so confused and he remained quiet for a minute before taking a deep breath and speaking.

"You're right I didn't like that." She giggled which in turn caused him to chuckle as well. "Why didn't you read a happy one?"

"You asked me to read the one I was currently reading and I did." She said turning the page.

"Yea well you win. I don' like your poetry." He smirked.

"You would like it even less if you knew what it was about." She smiled flipping through the pages trying to find the right poem.

"It's about his wife dying right. Annabel lee?" He raised an eyebrow as if to say her wasn't that stupid.

"Well yes. But Edgar Allan Poe married his 13 year old cousin. It was about her death." He made a face and then rolled his eyes. "Ah ha! Found it! I found the perfect one."

"He married his cousin?!" He spat out right before she shushed him.

"Just listen to this one." She said with a glare that quickly caused him to shut up.

"_The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,_

_The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,_

_The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,_

_And the highwayman came riding—_

_Riding—riding—_

_The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door._

_He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,_

_A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin; _

_They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh. _

_And he rode with a jeweled twinkle,_

_His pistol butts a-twinkle,_

_His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky."_

"Sounds kinda sly iffen' ya ask me" Jayne said under his breath.

"Well I wasn't asking you so kindly keep your mouth shut and listen!" She glared and he pretended to lock his mouth and throw away the key. She nodded and then started back up.

"_Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard, _

_He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;_

_He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there_

_But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,_

_Bess, the landlord's daughter,_

_Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair."_

"Another damn love story! And what the hell is a love knot?" He asked a little louder than necessary.

"Jayne Cobb! Shut it!" She spat and then glared once more before starting back up.

"_And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked_

_Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;_

_His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like moldy hay,_

_But he loved the landlord's daughter, _

_The landlord's red-lipped daughter,_

_Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say—_

_"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,_

_But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;_

_Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, _

_Then look for me by moonlight,_

_Watch for me by moonlight,_

_I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."_

She looked up to see that Jayne was completely enthralled with the story and she smiled before continuing on.

"_He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand, _

_But she loosened her hair in the casement. His face burnt like a brand_

_As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;_

_And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,_

_(Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)_

_Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West._

_He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;_

_And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,_

_When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,_

_A red-coat troop came marching—_

_Marching—marching—_

_King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door._

_They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead, _

_But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;_

_Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side. _

_There was death at every window;_

_And hell at one dark window;_

_For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride._

_They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest. _

_They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast._

_"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the doomed man say—_

_Look for me by moonlight;_

_Watch for me by moonlight;_

_I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!_

_She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good. _

_She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood._

_They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,_

_Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,_

_Cold, on the stroke of midnight,_

_The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!_

_The tip of one finger touched it. She strove no more for the rest. _

_Up, she stood up to attention, with the muzzle beneath her breast._

_She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again; _

_For the road lay bare in the moonlight;_

_Blank and bare in the moonlight;_

_And the blood of her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love's refrain._

_Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot__! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;_

_Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot__, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?_

_Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, _

_The highwayman came riding,_

_Riding, riding!_

_The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still!_

_Tlot-tlot__, in the frosty silence! __Tlot-tlot__, in the echoing night!_

_Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!_

_Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,_

_Then her finger moved in the moonlight,_

_Her musket shattered the moonlight,_

_Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him—with her death."_

"No she can't die!" He said

"I can't change the story Jayne just listen." She did her best to sooth him, but it didn't appear to do any good.

"_He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know who stood _

_Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood._

_Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew gray to hear _

_How Bess, the landlord's daughter,_

_The landlord's black-eyed daughter,_

_Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there._

_Back, he spurred like a madman, shouting a curse to the sky, _

_With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!_

_Blood-red were his spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,_

_When they shot him down on the highway, _

_Down like a dog on the highway,_

_And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat._

"And now he's dead! WORST. POEM. EVER." He crossed his arms like a pouting child. She simply smiled at him and continued on.

_And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,_

_When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,_

_When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,_

_A highwayman comes riding—_

_Riding—riding— _

_A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door._

_Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard;_

_He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;_

_He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there_

_But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, _

_Bess, the landlord's daughter,_

_Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair."_

She looked up at him and smiled. He tried his best to look uninterested, but he failed miserably. She raised an eyebrow he threw up his hands in mock defeat as he laughed.

"You win. I did actually like that one." He smiled. "Don't see why they had to die though. Now they're separated forever."

"No." She shook her head. "The last few paragraphs clearly state that their souls are still there forever. Besides you can never tear that kind of love apart." She smiled. She felt him place his hand on her belly. "ow." She pushed his hand away as she felt three more swift kicks. "you know I think he was asleep until you put your hand there." She laughed.

"sorry." He looked like a kicked puppy which caused her to laugh.

"I was kidding!" She smiled. "On that not I'm going back to bed." She stood up stretching and moaning.

"Ya know ya can always come back to my bed." He leered at her.

"Goodnight Jayne." She waved at him while rolling her eyes. She fought the urge to agree. She so badly wanted things to work out, but she knew that if Jayne thought that she and Sam were safest with him gone he would not hesitate to leave again. She couldn't put herself through that. She couldn't allow herself to finally be happy and then let it all get ripped away.

River was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming for two reasons; the first was because she was no longer pregnant the second was because Shepherd Book was standing in front of her smiling. He looked the same as the last time she saw him.

"Hello Book. How are you?" She smiled at him sweetly.

"I'm good Little one and how are you?" He smiled at her.

"Well a little confused." He chuckled at the face she made.

"Well that's to be expected." She nodded.

"So what exactly am I doing here? And what are you doing here. You're dead." She sat down next to him in the dirt and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Well I figured you would have figured that out by now, but I guess I will have to explain." She missed his smile. It always seemed to light up the room, it seemed as if nothing could ever dampen his spirits. "I am simply here to help. You are going to be going through some things soon and I am here to make sure you come through this as… unscathed as possible."

"Hmm sounds interesting." She smirked. "But I'm a big girl I can handle myself."

"I know River, but Jayne can not handle you being taken." He frowned and she found that more troubling than him being in here dream in the first place.

"Taken?" Book nodded.

"Yes. You and that baby will be taken and eventually they will come for Jayne." Book paused. "They will take what they need from him and then they will dispose of him."

"No I won't allow it." She said through her teeth. It was one thing to go after her, but to start attacking Jayne and their baby was another all together.

"You won't have a choice." He sighed. "I don't have much longer." He looked out into the distance. "They will come after you once you're separated. First for you and then for Jayne."

"No!" She yelled. "he has nothing to do with this."

"As long as that baby comes out they way they want it to and it will. They will come after him and they will kill him."

She sat bolt up right in bed. Her hair was matted to her face. She thought over books words and she was beginning to wonder just what she could do to stop Jayne from leaving her again.

"GET UP!" Mrs. Cobb smacked a sleeping Jayne in the head with a wooden spoon. He had fallen asleep outside on the porch swing sitting up. When he barely stirred she smack him again with a little more force. "I. SAID. WAKE. UP!" He finally opened his eyes in shock and put a hand to his forehead.

"What is with you women folk hittin' on me?" He rubbed the sore spot.

"We only hit ya when ya deserve it." She said with no hint of joking on her face and Jayne knew his Ma was upset about something.

"What do ya want ma?" He groaned as he stood up and stretched.

"You are gonna propose to that sweet little girl that you put in the family way and you are gonna do it by tonight!" She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"Ma she don't wanna marry me right now. She's still a might upset that I left already." He tried to reason with her, but he could tell that it was doing no good.

"I will not have my grandbaby born into a world where his folks aren't married. So you will propose to her and you will marry her before that child makes his entrance into this world. Do you understand me Jayne?" She continued her glare.

"Look Ma she made it perfectly clear that we are not together right now." He said walking out into the yard.

"Right I'll believe that when you two don't spend all night on the porch reading poetry and almost kissin'" She smirked when he looked at her in shock. "If you want to be sneakin' about makin' googly eyes at each other in the middle of the night I would be a bit quieter." He groaned slapping a hand over his face. "She loves you and she wants to be with you and if you don't think that's true you're almost as dense as yer father was."

"Alright Ma I give in. I'll propose tonight. Just stop bothering me about it." He smiled when he saw his Ma grinning from ear to ear.

"Good we'll have the town over for a barbecue. Maybe if we're lucky she'll just agree to marry ya tonight." She then turned and walked into the house to begin planning and making calls.

It was quite the shindig that his ma put together. Just about everyone showed up to see the new people and this supposed core beauty that Jayne Cobb had managed to snag. Somehow his Ma had managed to cook enough food for the whole town in just a few hours, but he figured she had been planning this since she found out that River was pregnant. He looked over to see her dancing around the fire with Wash who was laughing loudly. They were doing pretty good, but he could tell that River wasn't moving as well as she normally would. Zoe was sitting at a table with a bunch over new and expectant mothers. There certainly was no shortage of pregnant women here. It was common to have many children to ensure that the family kept going. Mal and Simon were already hammered and Inara was looking pretty tipsy herself as she hung off of Mal.

As the song came to an end River and Wash bowed slightly to each other and Jayne quickly made his way over to River before another young man came in to swop her up for another dance. She was looking pretty winded and he was wondering if maybe his plan wasn't such a good idea. He quickly changed his mind when he saw her smile at him from across the yard. He walked over to her and before he could even open his mouth she spoke.

"Want to go for a walk?" He smirked and wondered if maybe she knew about his plan, but he figured if she and she wasn't stopping him that she might just day yes.

"I actually wanted to ask you a question." He stammered. She grinned Jayne was actually quite adorable when he was nervous.

"Well go ahead." She smiled.

"You know don't ya?" He asked quietly.

"Maybe. Ask anyways." She placed both hands on the top of her stomach.

"River Tam. Will you marry me?" He asked the best he could without stumbling over the words, but he was pretty sure it wasn't perfect.

"You are not on one knee." She raised an eyebrow.

"You're really gonna make this old man get down on one knee?" He couldn't believe she was being such a stickler.

"JAYNE COBB YOU WILL DO WHAT THAT LITTLE GIRL WANTS AND GET DOWN ON ONE KNEE!" His mother yelled from the front porch. He didn't know how she heard what was going on and he really didn't want to know. He simply rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to River who was standing in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"If you're limber enough for the sex that we had to knock me up you're limber enough to get down on one knee." She began to tap her foot impatiently. So he did and then she smiled. "Why yes Jayne. I will marry you." He wrapped his arms around her as he heard his mother squeal in excitement and ask for a preacher.

"Ma I don't think now is the best time." He yelled not taking his eyes off of River.

"I have to agree with Jayne Ma." River smiled at the older woman hoping she hadn't offended her. Mrs. Cobb thought for a moment before an evil grin spread over her face.

"Oh that look is just unsettling." Wash whispered to Zoe who simply nodded her agreement.

"Fine you two want to wait we can have a big old fashion country weddin'" She smirked before turning to walk back to the party. "And we will be invitin' the whole town over again." She called back over her shoulder. River stifled a laugh when she saw Jayne's face at the thought of the whole town witnessing his wedding.

"It'll be fine Jayne." She patted him on his shoulder lightly.

"Yea I reckon everything will be right shiny now." He smiled and leaned down to kiss her when they heard someone yell from the tree line.

"I object!" they turned to see Nate making his way out from behind the trees. River and Jayne both sneered at him.

"I don't think anyone asked that question yet." Wash joked, but he was silenced by Zoe elbowing him in the side. River knew Wash and Zoe had followed to witness Jayne propose, but she was caught unaware when she turned to see the whole crew standing there behind them.

"You're not welcome here Nate!" She said grabbing a hold of Jayne's hand "You should leave."

"Why wouldn't I be welcome where my Fiancé is?" He smiled and it made River's stomach turn.

"I was unaware you were engaged I guess Congratulations are in order." She spat. "Were is the woman stupid enough to chain her self to you for life?"

"Why my dearest it's you." He said reaching out for her.

"Over my dead body!" Jayne pushed River behind him. She would have been upset over Jayne being so over protective thinking she couldn't take care of herself, but it was just too cute.

"Step aside Rim trash and allow me to talk to my future wife." He didn't even look at Jayne when he spoke.

"Go inside River." Jayne said through his teeth

"No." She said quietly. Jayne didn't look at her. He simply pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"I ain't askin' River. Go. Inside. Now." He put such authority behind his voice that she simply nodded and grabbed Zoe by the arm to lead her inside.

"What are we going inside for?" Zoe was almost astonished that River was listening to Jayne. "We're going to miss the fight."

"No. We're not." River smiled as she began to search the house.

Jayne couldn't believe how ignorant this guy was being. This guy could only be a few inches taller than River and yet here he stood demanding respect from someone who could kill him with one hand. Jayne thought for a moment before sighing and opening his mouth to speak.

"You have three seconds to be off this planet before I kill you." Jayne had never wanted to hurt someone more in his life.

"I don't think you're in the position to be making threats to anyone." Nate glared at him. "She is betrothed to me and she is MINE!"

"Now correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I heard that contract was broken by the Alliance." Jayne raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes that's true, but new arrangements have been made." He continued to look at the door River had gone through.

"What sorta arrangements?" He had gained a new interest in what this man had to say.

"When she gives birth to that… thing." Jayne made a fist wanting so bad to strike this boy. It was one thing to insult him, but insulting his baby before it was born was a different sort of low. "They will take the baby and then they will give her to me."

"And just who is they?" Jayne thought the kid was bluffing. There was no way that this kid knew what he was talking about.

"Listen Rim trash I would love to continue this conversation, but my future wife is in there I'm sure she's talking to some unmentionable people and I'm going to put a stop to it." Nate made a move to walk around Jayne, but was stopped by the man's large arm.

"You make one more step towards that house or towards River we're gonna be havin' a different sort of talk." Jayne glared.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME YOU INBRED PIECE OF TRASH!" He pushed Jayne away from him. Jayne pushed back knocking the much smaller man back several feet. Nate didn't seem to be fazed by the hit and quickly tried again to get around Jayne. Jayne went to push him one more time when Nate punched him knocking Jayne back. He had to hand it to the kid he had a decent right hook, but it was more of the unsuspecting that caused him to fall.

Jayne looked up when he heard a gun cock and he looked around Nate, who had his arms raised, to see River standing there with a shot gun bigger than herself placed against the center of his back.

"You have three seconds to leave-" She was cut off by Nate

"Or what you'll kill me?" He laughed thinking she wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Oh no Nate I'm just going to scare you into leaving." Jayne was a little nervous at the smile she gave to the back of Nate's head just before the boy turned around. When the boy leaned to grab over to grab the front of the shot gun River shot him in the right knee effectively shooting it off completely. Simon made a move to walk over to the injured man, but was stopped by Mal who was simply shaking his head.

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WERE JUST GOING TO SCARE ME INTO LEAVING?!" Nate yelled as his body hit the ground hard.

"Pain is scary." River smiled while sending a wink in Jayne's direction. _That's my girl_ Jayne thought as he smiled back at the girl. "Now you have three seconds to start crawling away from here or you'll lose the other knee." She remained calm and it was starting to worry the rest of the group.

"You can't possibly expect me to make it very far in three seconds I only have one usable leg." He spat, but just as he finished his sentence River shot the other knee. Nate let out a screech of pain and began to curse at River.

"Nate didn't your parents ever teach you how to treat a lady." She smiled.

"When I get my hands on you River Tam you're going to regret this." He then reared back his head and spit on her. There was one more loud crack as River shot him in the chest and then bent down to look at his body.

"Wrong answer Nate." She then tossed the gun to Zoe who expertly caught it and then made her way over to Kaylee who was looking a little unsettled. "You okay Kaylee?"

"You just shot him." Kaylee whispered. "and you're going on as if everything is normal." Kaylee shook her head in disbelief.

"How would you expect me to react? He was putting my family in danger and I just couldn't have that." River said "You don't feel anything when you step on a bug do you?"

"But he's a person River. Didn't you feel anything when you shot him?" Kaylee understood perfectly why River had killed that man. Kaylee would have probably done the same thing herself, but what she couldn't understand was how River wasn't bothered by it.

"Kickback." River shrugged and then walked back over to Jayne who was just standing up and brushing the dirt on himself. "Are you okay?" The concern in her eyes made his heart beat faster.

"jus' fine darlin' You?" He put his arm around her and began walking towards the house with her.

"fine." She shrugged. "Did you hear him though? The alliance wants me and they want our baby. Chances are they'll want you too. They'll never stop." She stopped walking when they got to the porch. He bent down and looked into her eyes.

"They're gonna have to go through me first darlin' and I guarantee that they won't be getting' past me." He smirked and then kissed her forehead. "So no more worryin'. Ain't good for the little one."

**Let me know what you think of the changes. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Please read and review.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I want to thank everyone for following or reviewing this story. I do not own anything and no profit was made from this.**

The sunlight streamed through the window causing the room to warm up dramatically. She began to sweat profusely, of course it didn't help that Jayne had an arm and leg draped around her while he slept. She began to get uncomfortable and tried to push his arm off of her. He just snored and pulled her closer. She hated being hot and being pregnant the heat was making her feel sick. She rolled her eyes and tried to push him away again only to be pulled in closer once more. She couldn't push him off the bed and she didn't want to vomit everywhere so she sat and thought for a moment. She then quickly moved her arm and pinched the underside of his arm hard.

"What the hell!" He said sitting up straight in bed and glaring at her.

"Hot!" She pouted and threw the covers off herself.

"Well why didn't you just say so." He slapped a hand over his face in frustration.

"Well I tried to push you off of me gently, but you simply pulled me in closer. Which just made things worse." She narrowed her eyes at him as she walked across the room and opened the window to allow the morning breeze to blow through the room. She let out a sigh of relief as her body instantly cooled.

"You could have woken me up." He tried again.

"Have you ever been woken up this early in the morning before by someone?" she turned around and smirked at him before making her way back to the bed.

"Once."

"And what happened?" She raised and eyebrow. He already knew that she knew the story, but she was gonna make him say it anyway.

"I may or may not have punched Mal in the shoulder, but I'd never hit ya babydoll." He said wrapping his arms around her. She rolled her eyes and knocked his hands away.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure you're aware or even capable of thought first thing in the morning." She laughed.

"What makes ya say that?"

"Because I just told you that you wrapping around me was making me hot and you keep doing it anyway."

"Sorry." He frowned.

"No harm was meant, but you may want to at least put a shirt on because your mother's going to bother us in a few minutes to discuss the wedding." She smiled before kissing him gently on the cheek.

"Ya know, babydoll, if yer gonna kiss me there are a lot more interestin' places ta do it." He leered at her causing her to laugh. He leaned over placing a hand on her belly and kissed her on the lips.

"GAH!" He said jerking his hand back. "What the hell was that?!" He said with a panicked look on his face.

"Yea he does that now." She laughed rubbing the spot gently.

"Does what? Try to break free?" he stared at her belly like something really was going to bust out of there. "That was freaky."

"No he's just running out of room. He likes to stretch and often times his hand or feet run along my belly. Sometimes you can actually see it." She said with glee causing him to smile slightly.

"Still weird iffen ya ask me." He said kissing her on the cheek before finally rolling out of bed and stretching with a loud moan.

"Well I wasn't asking you old man." She laughed as she threw on another sundress.

"Don't ya own anything else 'sides them dresses?" He said throwing on his clothes. "Make ya look a little fat."

"Nothing else fits." She pouted sticking her bottom lip out. "My belly got too big too quick. All your fault." She glared at him before storming out the door.

"Ah. Babydoll don't be mad. Didn't mean nothin' by it."

"Bendan!" She threw up her arms as she shouted at him passing the living room where Zoe and Wash were lounging cooing excitedly at her belly. They both jerked around when they heard the arguing. When they saw it was River and Jayne both knew he had said something stupid and River had taken it badly.

"Listen babydoll, I'm sorry alright." He pleaded following her through the house. Kaylee giggled when she saw him. He was obviously in a lot of trouble because he hadn't even bothered to put shoes on before apologizing.

"Tamade Hundan!" She screamed storming past the kitchen where Simon and Mrs. Cobb sat with Mattie and Inara. Simon stared at his little sister in disbelief that those words had left her mouth. They all stared slacked jawed as River turned around and glared at him completely silent.

"I've never seen her this mad before." Simon whispered across the table to Inara who just simply nodded. "I wonder what he did?"

Mal who had heard the argument from outside stormed into the kitchen wanting answers. He took one look at River's cold eyes and Jayne's pleading look and knew that Jayne had said something stupid. He usually didn't try to get too involved with the crew's personal affairs, but this looked like it might be something that could break up his crew so he chose to open his mouth and ask the worst question he had ever ask in his entire life.

"Wei! What the hell is goin' on?" He said looking back and forth between River and Jayne. He immediately knew that he made a mistake when River turned her stony glare on him.

"Guan ni ziji de shi!" She screamed at him before storming out the door and making her way towards Serenity. Jayne thought for a moment about following her and then thought it might just be better to let her cool down. He took an open spot next to Mattie and began to pile his plate with the breakfast his Ma had cooked. Everyone stared at him waiting for an explanation and when it became clear that he wasn't going to say anything Mattie gathered the courage and asked.

"What'd ya do?" He grinned at him.

"Nothin' she just took somethin' I said the wrong way." Jayne refused to look up from his food.

"Jayne Cobb! What did ya say to that sweet little girl?" His scolded him from across the table.

"Nothin' she just took it the wrong way!" He pleaded

"Yes, because my sister often reacts like that when nothing was said." Simon rolled his eyes.

"Maybe if you tell us Jayne we can tell you how to fix it." Inara gave him a comforting smile.

"Alright." He sighed putting his fork down and looking at the group. "I may or may not have called her fat."

"Bendan." Mattie smirked.

"Wow Jayne that's pretty bad." Inara said stifling a giggle.

"Even I know not to say that." Simon said adding an eye roll.

"You called your pregnant girlfriend fat?" Mal asked almost shocked at how stupid Jayne really was.

"Well no… not really… I guess… kinda…" Jayne stumbled over his words. "Ow! What the hell Ma?!" Jayne said rubbing the back of his head that his mother had just smacked with a wooden spoon.

"Do you keep one of those on you at all times?" Simon asked.

"Have to." She smirked at him and then hit Jayne again.

"Stop it!" Jayne yelled.

"You go fix this now!" She yelled at Jayne.

"Hold up. What do you mean kinda?" Inara asked. She wondered just what Jayne had said to upset River so much.

"Well she was puttin' on another sun dress and I asked if she had anything else to wear case they make her look a little fat." He looked back down at his plate.

"That's not kinda callin' her fat that IS callin' her fat." Mattie laughed slapping his leg.

"Sorry Jayne I have to agree that you need to go apologize to her." Inara frowned at him "the sooner the better."

Jayne looked around the table and saw that everyone seemed to be in agreement. He thought for another moment before sighing and pushing back in his chair. He looked around one last time and then stormed out of the room. He figured that she ran into the woods. If he knew her well enough, and he did, she was probably sitting by the lake waiting for him. He didn't make it very far into the woods before a terrifying thought made its way into his brain.

"Girl! You better not be up in a tree." He yelled

"I don't think you have to worry about that." He heard a soft cry behind him and turned to see her sitting on a rock just a few feet away. She hadn't even made it to the lake.

"Why's that?" He said squatting down in front of her so they were eye level.

"I couldn't even make it up the tree." And with that out she burst into tears. "I'm too big and it's all your fault!"

"Look can't blame ya fer bein' mad, but I didn't mean to call ya fat. It just came out wrong, Dong ma?" He gave her a look that told her he was pretty much begging.

"Then what did you mean?" She said wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"Look I'm just use to ya wearin' some pretty form fittin' dresses these days, but I guess with my kid in there it was pretty much a guarantee that ya were gonna get big." He smirked trying to make her laugh, but she crossed her arms showing that she was unamused. "Alright I'm sorry okay. Didn't mean anything by it. I just figured you'd wear dresses that would show off yer belly not cover it."

"Apology accepted." She sighed. "I understand what you're saying, but there are a lot nicer ways of saying it. Besides the only dress I have that really makes me look pregnant is the one your mother made for me and I can't wear that everyday."

"No, but maybe she'll make ya some more." He smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "Now let's git back to the house for they send out a search party."

When they finally made it back it seemed everyone had slowly trickled into the kitchen and was now discussing the wedding. Everyone smiled at her and she returned it politely. They assumed everything was fix and then continued on with the conversation.

"What colors do you want to use River?" Kaylee asked excitedly.

"I was thinking red and white." She shrugged taking a seat on Jayne's lap. He smiled up at her and placed a hand protectively over her stomach.

"Oh How romantic!" Kaylee clapped excitedly.

"So what are you going to wear River?" Inara asked. "I can have someone make a dress and send it if we have a few weeks. I'll just need your measurements."

"Thank you Inara, but I'll just wear that Ma made me." River beamed at her. "But I appreciate the offer."

"Made you?" Ma gave her a confused look.

"Yea the white one." River smirked

"Oh sweetheart I didn't make that fer ya." River gave her a questioning look. "That was mince from when I was pregnant with Jayne and Mattie, with a few alterations."

"Oh. Well if you don't mind did you have anymore I could borrow?" River laughed.

"Of course although I don't think that it would be borrowing so much as just you can have. Don't think I'll be popping out more children anytime soon." Ma laughed at the younger girl. "Give me a few days to make the alterations and ya can have 'em all. Speakin' of which I wanted to know if ya wanted my weddin' dress also?"

"I would love that, but I don't think I'll fit." River said motioning to her stomach.

"Of course ya will just have to alter it some like the others."

"Ma I don't think she'll fit in your wedding dress. It wasn't made for a pregnant woman." Jayne yelled out the obvious. His ma turned and gave him a knowing look and then turned the conversation back to River.

"Just need to hem it a little so's it's not draggin on the ground and yer a little skinnier than I was when I was pregnant so I'll have ya try it on and see where it needs to be taken in." She patted the girl's hand.

"Ma I know she's a little thing, but her belly's a little big what with carryin' my youngin' an' all." Jayne still didn't get it and it was causing River and Kaylee to giggle like school girls.

"Jayne I think yer ma's implyin' that she was pregnant when she got married." Kaylee said between giggles. He turned and gave his mother a wide eyed stare.

"MA?"

"Aw heck ain't like it was a secret or nuthin' you were born two months after the date on our marriage certificate. Heck yer grandpa had to drag yer daddy outta a bar the day of the weddin' and stand at the alter with a shotgun." Mrs. Cobb smiled remembering the day.

"How come no one told me?" Jayne asked

"Uhh cause yer an idiot." Mattie snorted "I even knew that dad knocked ma up at the town social."

"Mattie Cobb!" Vera raised the spoon which caused Mattie to stop laughing.

"Moving on to the next subject. River we gotta go get the girls dresses and gotta get you in my old dress. So let's hop to it." Vera said clapping her hands together excitedly which reminded River of Kaylee.

"Well what are we going to do Mrs. Cobb?" River winced at the sound of her brother's voice which came out almost in a whine.

"First I told you to call me Ma and second Mattie's got a list of chores I want you boys to finish when we get home." She gave them a look that even sent shivers down Mal's spine.

As they slowly made their way to town River began picking up bits of information from Mrs. Cobb that were beginning to worry her. She wondered if she should bring it up or just let the woman have the moment to herself. On the one hand she's a woman and they often like to talk things out and on the other hand she's Jayne's mother and if trying to talk things out with Jayne was any indication she should probably just let it lie. They all walked in total silence, with the exception of Kaylee who hadn't stopped talking about the wedding since they left the house, until the older woman let out a sigh.

"What's the matter Mrs. Cobb?" Kaylee asked cheerily. River had always yelled at Jayne for making fun of Kaylee's cheeriness, but now she was starting to agree with Jayne on the fact that sometimes it was just plain annoying.

"Oh nothin' jus' an old woman thinkin' on things." She smiled at the perpetually happy young woman.

"Can't be nothin'. Gotta be somethin'" Kaylee grinned "This is girl time and we can talk about anything and it won't make it back to the boys."

"Don't rightly know if I should be tellin' ya somethin' I've been keepin' a secret fer all these years." She said quietly.

"Maybe you'll feel a little better." Kaylee smirked

"Reckon yer right." She sighed. "All this weddin' nonsense is just makin' my think of Jayne's pa." River saw the sad and guilty look in her eyes. What confused her was why she saw guilt.

"Well a wedding brings out all types of emotions. I would assume that thinking of your dead husband while your oldest son is going to be getting married is perfectly normal." Inara tried to comfort her, but the look in the older woman's eyes told River she wasn't helping and then she caught an errant thought from the older woman's head that made River's blood run cold.

"Does he know?" River asked quietly.

"It's gonna take a lot of time to get use to ya bein' a reader." The old woman laughed "No Jayne has no idea. Couldn't let a child know that."

"What does Jayne not know?" Zoe who had been lost in her own thoughts finally joined the conversation.

"Jayne's father isn't dead." River whispered.

"What, but he said that he left for the black after his daddy died so he could help support ya." Kaylee was getting confused.

"No." Mrs. Cobb frowned causing her face to age dramatically. "I was fifteen when I had Jayne." She sat down a large rock that she was sitting in front of. "We were havin' a town social had a few travelers still in town from after the harvest."

"Travelers?"Kaylee raised an eyebrow.

"People that come and go with the harvest." Zoe said stoically.

"Met one a man 'bout twenty. Had a few drinks in me and after awhile we got ta talkin' and the rest the say is history." She smiled at the ground.

"What happened to 'im? What was his name?" Kaylee looked at her as if she were telling some epic tale and not her sad life story.

"Jacob." Her eyes twinkled a little. "He left the next week never came back. You know I'm surprised Jayne never noticed that he don't look a thing like anyone else in the family. Looks like the spittin' image of Jacob."

"So who raised him?" River knew how the story went, but she wanted to hear it.

"Friend of mine found out the predicament I was in agreed to marry me. He's Mattie's pa." She smiled sweetly. River turned quickly to see Zoe make a face and grab her belly.

"Ma I would love to hear the rest of this story, but it seems like we're going be interrupted and I'm sure Zoe is going to want to see my brother really soon." They all turned to look at River and then to Zoe who had her face twisted as she tried to keep herself from screaming.

"It's time." Zoe breathed as a contraction ripped through her.

"Baby's coming." River whispered.

**Alright it's really just a filler chapter. Let me know what you think please read and review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I know it's been forever since I uploaded and I am sorry for that. I lost inspiration for awhile, but I want to thank my beta Irishbrneyes for helping me with my lack of concentration. I did not send this to my beta before uploading it because frankly I was impatient and she already helped enough with directing me on this story. I do not own anything and no profit was made. **

Zoe had been in labor for ten hours and no one had heard anything for at least six. It made River nervous as she tried to block out everything that Zoe was feeling, but it was hard. Sometimes she would feel an intense need to push or a twinge of pain. Jayne did her best to comfort her, but she kept shooting him icy glares every time he touched her.

"What can I do bao bei?" He asked with pleading eyes as she felt another one of Zoe's painful contractions.

"You've done enough." She spat holding her belly tightly as she tried to breathe. Kaylee walked over slowly and tried her best to comfort River. "This is terrible!" River said as she felt another contraction. "And I'm only feeling part of her pain."

"I know. It's gonna be okay." Kaylee cooed running her fingers over River's hair.

BAM! Everyone turned to see Inara come out the front door. River watched her in stunned silence for a moment before walking towards Inara and asking one question.

"What happened?"

"Her…" She tried to say something, anything as she wiped tears off her cheeks. "Her umbilical came out first… she um…" No one had ever seen Inara this emotional before. Her usual calm demeanor was completely shattered.

"Umbilical cord prolapse." River whispered to herself. Zoe and the baby were in trouble unless Simon could do something fast.

"What…?" Kaylee asked her voice was just a ghost of its former cheerful sound.

"Umbilical cord prolapsed is when the cord comes out before the baby. The problem is that it's the baby's lifeline. It allows oxygen to travel from the mother to the child. When this happens the oxygen get's cut off and the baby can't breathe." Kaylee nodded in horror at River's explanation.

"So what's gonna happen?"

"Well Simon is going to have to get the baby out. Fast. He can't to a c-section, doesn't have the proper equipment." River rambled, mostly to herself.

"But what happens if the baby doesn't come out fast 'nough?" Kaylee already knew the answer, but she had to hear it.

"She'll die. Zoe most likely too." River sighed. "Inara Simon's going to need you. You should go back in there." Inara thought for a moment before ducking back into the house. As River's eyes followed Inara back into the house the fell on Jayne's mother who was sitting on the porch lost in thought. She made her way to the older woman and smiled sweetly at her.

"Ma I was wondering if you would like to take a walk with me?"

"I think that sounds lovely." She smiled, but it didn't meet her eyes, which let River know her assumption was true. When they made it a good distance away from the house, away from the rest of the group, River turned to her.

"You lied." It was not an accusation just a fact.

"Never gonna get use ta havin' a reader around." She smirked

"I didn't have to read you to know." She shrugged and continued to walk slowly. "I couldn't anyways. Jayne makes it hard and Zoe's pain and panic covered anything up once labor started."

"Ah." Mrs. Cobb smiled at the girl's honesty.

"How much of what you told me about Jayne's father is true?"

"Well his name was Jacob and he was 20 when we met, but that's about it."

"If you please, I would like to hear the real story."

"We had a real problem with slavers back before Jayne was born. Governor had to call a group had a few mercenaries with 'em"

"One of them was Jayne's father." Mrs. Cobb nodded at River's revelation. "Jayne's father was a mercenary too."

"Yes. They got rid of the slavers quick, didn't take no time at all and well we were so grateful, some of us more than others." River patted her on the hand. "They stayed on planet for two weeks. He was with me everyday. Said he'd come back for me in three weeks and we'd go somewhere together. Said he'd married me. I never saw him again."

"You loved him."

"Yes." River could tell how hard this was on the older woman. "I was heartbroken when he never came back and then few weeks after he was suppose to come back found out I was pregnant. You know the rest."

"Did you ever find out what happened to him?"

"No I never heard anything and he never tried to come back." River saw the tears in her eyes and felt her own tears spill over.

"Mercenaries don't live long you know."

"That was my thoughts." River smiled sadly at her soon to be mother-in-law. River had seen so many horrible things and had horrible things done to her, but she never wanted to experience the pain that was in that woman's eyes now. They both turned at the sound of quick footsteps. Kaylee was standing there with a wide grin on her ever cheerful face.

"It's a girl!" She clapped excitedly.

"We already knew that Kaylee." River smiled. She knew that if she came with bad news she wouldn't be smiling like that.

"Zoe and the baby are fine." Kaylee grinned as she turned to go back to the house. "They's askin' fer ya River."

When Kaylee was out of eyesight River turned back to Mrs. Cobb.

"Are you going to tell Jayne?"

"I wasn't palnnin' on it."

"I think you should." She saw the fear on Ma's face. "You have my word that I will not tell him. That's something he should hear from you anyways."

The baby looked just like her mother, with beautiful dark skin and hair. When she opened her eyes to look about the room Kaylee and Inara gasped, she had her father's bright blue eyes. River smiled at the little girl as Wash handed her the baby. Jayne watched in awe as he thought that in a short amount of time he would see River holding their baby, their son. River held her for a few short minutes before passing the baby off to Kaylee.

"What's her name?" River looked to Zoe knowing that she would never allow Wash to decide.

"Julianna Simone Washburne." Zoe smiled as Wash frowned.

"Well it ain't a town, but it's better than a hamster." Kaylee looked up from the baby to smile at Simon.

"Why do you look so unhappy Wash?" Simon clapped him on the shoulder.

"He wanted to name her Dina." River smiled at him. "Zoe shot that down fast." River smiled as everyone laughed at Wash. River stood there for a moment looking at Zoe before slowly ducking out the door hoping no one saw her.

She sat outside by herself thinking over how Zoe looked. She was pale and tired as if it had taken everything in her to just stay alive. Zoe was the strongest woman she knew. River wasn't that strong. She could never be that strong. She didn't know what would happen if something didn't go right with the labor. She wasn't sure if she would make it. She didn't hear him come up behind her.

"What cha doin' out here babydoll?" His gruff voice in her ear sent a shiver down her spine.

"Thinking." She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.

"hmm." He sighed pressing a kiss to the side of her neck. "You thinking might be dangerous." She laughed with him.

"No that's only with you." She grinned. "And only because you might hurt yourself."

"Brat."

"Brute."

"you love me."

"yea… I do…" he held her a little tighter.

"Told you."

"Yea… well… next time I'll know better than ta bet against ya." River leaned back against him and took deep breaths. "hey got somethin' I wanna show ya." He said pulling her up.

The walk was long, but River enjoyed the sun on her face and the space between herself and everyone's joy. Not that she wasn't happy for Zoe and Wash, but even Jayne couldn't block out some things and their feelings were a bit over powering. She loved walking with Jayne; he didn't need to fill every silence with unneeded words. He turned and smiled at her as they stopped in front of a small cabin.

"Jayne… What is this?... Where are we?" She ran a hand over her stomach as she watched him walk up the steps onto the porch.

"Home."

"I'm sorry… What?" She walked slowly up the stairs following him.

"Home. It's home. Bought it 'bout a week after we had our talk 'bout not wantin' to raise the lit'l one on Serenity." He smiled expectantly.

"You bought it?" Her eyes widened "With what money?"

"Well when I was gone I did get paid." He laughed "Turns out when yer not spendin' money on whores and beer you tend ta save quite a bit."

"Home…" She smiled running her hands over the wood railing. "I… don't know what to say."

"Well say ya like it." He couldn't stop grinning. "Look. I know it's small and I know it ain't what yer use to, but we can add a few more rooms when ya wanna have more kids and we can make it nice." She smiled at his stupidity.

"Jayne, I think you misunderstood." She ran to him wrapping her arms around his neck. "I will be more than thrilled to make a home here with you." He hugged her tightly and frowned when he felt her pull away. "More kids…?"

"Well… you know… I was jus' figurin'?"

"Can we have this one first before we start planning any more." She smiled and then pressed her lips to his quickly.

It took three days for Zoe to recover and while she was busy doing that Mrs. Cobb was busy planning a wedding and making sure River's dress fit just right. It took all the power in the 'verse to convince Zoe to put the damn bridesmaid dress on, but once it was on River's was making damn sure it was staying on. She had never been so nervous in her whole life. Kaylee was fanning her with some paper trying to calm her down.

"River ya gotta keep breathin'. It's gonna be okay." She kept fanning.

"Obviously you have never been a pregnant bride." River rolled her eyes.

"Well just think you'll be married soon 'nough."

"To Jayne…" Inara whispered stifiling a laugh.

"yer not helpin' Inara." Kaylee spat.

"Alright ladies time is now." Mrs. Cobb clapped excitedly as she walked into the house. "It's gonna be okay lit'l River. My boy is just as nervous." River nodded as she pulled herself up.

River had never dreamed of her wedding day like most little girls. She had never even thought long on having children. She always wanted to spend time exploring the galaxy or studying at some of the most prestigious academies on Osiris, but she had never been happier in her entire life then she had in that moment when she saw Jayne standing next to the local preacher waiting for her. He smiled up at her as if she contained all the secrets to the verse in her hand and it took everything she had, and a pointed look from Ma, to keep from running down makeshift aisle and tackling him. She felt her lacy dress against her skin and was glad that the fabric was light because she felt she might overheat as she drew nearer to Jayne. She wanted so badly to look at her brother for support as he stood right behind Mal as on of the groomsmen, but she couldn't tear her eyes from Jayne's smiling face. She wondered to herself how Mal had wrangled him into a suit. It seemed like hours before she took her spot next to him at the altar. The preacher smiled at the two of them before clearing his throat and beginning the ceremony.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join River Tam and Jayne Cobb in matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." In a matter of seconds River had hiked up her dress producing a pistol from a strap on her leg and pointed it in Simon's direction. The preacher gave a horrified gasp as Jayne chuckled and Simon raised his hands as if to say he wouldn't say anything. "right…" The preacher nodded as Jayne motioned for him to continue. "By the power vested in me by the Governor of Heloise I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Jayne took no time to pull her close and press his lips to hers. River melted in his arms and only pulled away when she heard the uncomfortable throat clearing of everyone else who stood around waiting for them. The reception and wedding night passed in the flash seeing as River was to large to be bouncing around the dance floor and didn't much feel like breaking in their new bed with anything more than sleep.

She smiled as the sun streamed in through the window and woke her up. She rolled over to see an empty and cold bed and frowned. She heard the sound of an axe hitting wood and knew Jayne was outside splitting wood. Why she couldn't figure out because it was still summer, but Jayne often liked to keep busy. She figured it was because when Sam came they wouldn't have much time for anything. As she looked out the window to see Jayne shirtless chopping at the wood something caught her eye on the corner of the yard. A man, tall loaded down with a few guns was making his way towards Jayne. Jayne of course, not paying attention and his back to him, didn't see the man and River ran towards the front door.

Jayne heard the front door open and watched as River stumbled down the stairs and tossed him a gun while cocking the shotgun with one hand. He caught the gun and whirled around to see a man walking across the yard towards them loaded down with weapons face pointed towards ground not even bothering to look at them. River fired a warning shot just to his left and the man stopped. He looked between the two people standing in front of him a heavily pregnant young woman and a larger man.

"Quite the little wife you have there." The man drawled out with a smile.

"That's what I've heard." Jayne spat keeping his pistol leveled at the man. "Now who the hell are you?"

"Name's Jacob, Jacob Bosler." He heard River's sharp intake of breath.

"Yea, but yer name don't tell me why yer here."

"I'm yer pa." Jayne felt his face fall.

"Feihua" Jayne spat.

"Come in Mr. Bosler." He turned to see River drop her weapon and he felt his mouth drop open.

"River what the hell are ya doin'?"

"Just listen to what he has to say." River put her hand on Jayne's arm and felt him jerk away.

"You knew?" Jayne watched the man walk into his home and turned back to look at River. "You knew and you didn't tell me." River flinched at the venom in his voice.

"I promised your mother I wouldn't" She tried to touch him again and he jerked his arm away once more as he started toward the front door.

"When he leaves we're gonna have some words." He said without looking at her.

**So let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Please read and review because it lets me know that you're reading and that you like where this story is going.**

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(Take out all the spaces and copy and paste it. River's dress is the one on the left.)


	14. Chapter 14

**I want to thank everyone who has reviewed or started following this story. I really appreciate it. I also want to thank my super awesome beta Irishbrneyes who has helped me tremendously with this chapter. I do not own anything and no profit was made.**

Jayne had never felt so betrayed. He had friends turn him in for a small amount of money and he had been shot over women before, but nothing compared to being lied to by the two women you loved. He couldn't comprehend that the man who sat across from him was his father, though his eyes saw it. The same blue eyes, the same height and build. Everything that he knew, everything he thought he knew was wrong, was a lie. River sat down next to Jayne carefully placing a hand on her swollen stomach as her eyes darted between the two large men who sat silently in her tiny new kitchen. No one spoke, and it was the most unnerving moment that had ever occurred in her entire life. She felt the anger roll off Jayne in waves. Anger at her and his mother for lying. Anger at Jacob for staying away and not being a parent.

"Maybe I should…" River started to stand thinking it was best that she should head to Jayne's mother's house, but was stopped when Jayne grabbed her wrist.

"Stay." He glared at her. She nodded and sat back down quickly.

"So how have ya been?" Jacob looked to Jayne for an answer. River waited for an explosion that she knew was coming.

"How have I been?" Jayne scoffed looking at Jacob with nothing but hatred. "Ya haven't ever met me so I don't think that askin' me how I've been is a real good starting point."

"I have met ya." Jacob said flatly. "Held ya as a baby. Stayed close by always makin' sure you were fine."

"Goushi!" Jayne yelled causing River to jump letting out a tiny squeak. To Jacob's credit he didn't flinch or even blink. He simply continued to stare at the younger version of himself across the table.

"He's not lying." River said quietly. "He was there. He was always there." Jayne turned his icy cold glare towards River. She flinched back from it, not because she was scared of Jayne but because the anger that was behind the look. She looked back at him for a moment and realized it wasn't anger that she felt, but pain. He was hurt by the fact that she hadn't told him.

"She's right. I came back fer yer ma, but stumbled upon her wedding instead." They both saw the regret and hurt in the older man's eyes. "Saw she was pregnant and I knew… I just knew that you was mine. A few days after you was born I approached yer pa. Told him who I was, what I was doing there."

"What happened?" River was far more interested in the story than Jayne was, but that was to be expected.

"Well right after he punched me he brought him out to see me. Ya looked up at me with my eyes, and then fell asleep. We made a deal that he would bring me captures of you growin' every so often tellin' me how you were doing, and I would help pay fer yer cost." Jayne continued to stare at the man stoned face. Although he did spare a smile when he heard his pa had punched him.

"How come ya never came back fer ma?" He finally asked a question. "If ya were so concerned with her and me."

"Right after we left got caught up with some not so good men. Had to duck 'em fer awhile. When I was finally able to head back this way several months had passed. I would have come back sooner, but I couldn't allow those men to follow me here. Couldn't allow them to see yer ma." Jayne understood that. He knew what it was like to be sought after by some less than respectable people. He also knew what it was like to want to keep the ones you love away from them.

"That's a very touchin' story and all, but ya ain't my pa." Jayne shrugged. He was done with this little game. "My pa died years ago and I had to leave home to help support my family. Now you'll be leavin' my house in the next three seconds as ya are or you'll be leavin' with some bullet holes."

"JAYNE!" River went to scold him, but was yet again cut off by another glare.

"STOP!" he yelled back at her. "GO back to the bedroom now."

"I will not be treated like a small child to be put away when you think I can't handle a situation!"

"River, go to the bedroom now." He said through his teeth. "I ain't askin'" She wanted to say something, but she could tell from the tension in the room it was not the time to argue with him.

"It was very nice to meet you Mr. Bosler." She nodded to Jacob before heading off towards the bedroom.

"Scary how much she reminds me of yer ma." Jacob laughed.

"I believe I told ya to get outta my house."

"Now Jayne-" Jacob was quickly cut off by the sound of Jayne cocking his gun.

"I've killed plenty of men in my life." He said pointing the small handgun at him. "One more ain't gonna make a difference ta me." He raised an eyebrow begging him to question his decision.

"I'll be goin'." Jacob quickly realized this wasn't going to be the conversation he hoped it would be and ducked out of the house quickly. Jayne waited watching him as he walked off. He waited until he could no longer see him and headed towards the bedroom.

River stood in front of the window watching the retreating form of Jayne's father. She knew it would only be a matter of minutes before Jayne stormed into the room demanding answers. Her face contorted slightly as she felt a dull ache in her back. _That was strange. _She thought to herself as she heard the door to the bedroom open. She turned to see Jayne, just as upset as before staring at her. Another dull ache crossed her back.

"I will not be treated like a child." She said simply. She knew why he was upset; she understood why. "I am not some small babe who can be sent away when you think I have done something wrong."

"You lied to me." His eyes accused her and she could barely stand it. The pain in her back was becoming sharper.

"I did not lie to you."

"Well ya certainly didn't tell the ruttin' truth!" He yelled and he felt awful as she jumped back away from him. "Ya kept a secret from me. A pretty damn big one."

"Not my secret to tell." She said quietly looking down at her feet.

"The hell it ain't!" Jayne rubbed a hand across his forehead. He didn't notice River wince as another pain ripped across her back. "That's something ya gotta tell someone."

"That wouldn't be fair to your mother Jayne, or to me for that matter!" River said trying to calm herself down. "I have kept the crew's secrets for _**years**_. You wouldn't want me to go around telling the secrets I knew about you, or Mal, or even Simon!"

"That's not true!" He yelled. "I would expect you to tell me anything you think is important."

" Alright! Fine! You think it's time for some truth. I'm going to tell you _**everything**_ that I deem important." As she narrowed her eyes at him Jayne knew he had just screwed himself. "I never told anyone when Mal and Inara fell in love with each other even though I thought it was important and it has caused us a whole lot of trouble. I never told anyone when Simon fell in love with Kaylee even though it would have saved everyone from seeing what a complete boob he is." She paused taking another deep breath as her back began to hurt worse. "I never said anything when you fell in love with me because it would mean the airlock for you, and I mean when you _**fell in love **_not when you finally admitted it to yourself! I never said anything about knowing that Mal prays every night and I have kept it to myself that he still thinks about what it would have been like had he told me how he felt before you did." She watched Jayne's hands ball up into fists, and she felt his hurt grow to anger at the thought of River in Mal's arms instead of his. She felt tears begin to roll down her cheeks as she took a slow shuttering breath. "And I never say anything when you think that it might have been easier to be with Kaylee than me." River watched as his face fell and then bolted out the bedroom door.

Jayne felt awful. He hadn't ever thought about her hearing those things. She said she didn't read crew, but she had said that some things were hard not to hear. He had never seen that much pain on her face. The thought had never crossed his mind to leave her. He loved her with every inch of himself, but loving River was… complicated to say the least. He had often thought of what it might be like to be in love with a normal girl, but that was never an option for him. River was it, and she had to know that no matter what stupid thought crossed his mind he would never love anyone but her. Just as he was about to go after her an ear piercing scream shattered any thought he had. All he knew was that it was River, and she was hurt.

It didn't take long for him to find her she had just made it out the front door and was sitting on the steps breathing heavily. She looked up at him and grabbed at her stomach as another pain ripped across her. He quickly dropped down next to her checking for any wounds or what might be causing her pain and was met with a solid punch to the side of the head. He looked up at her and frowned.

"What the hell was that for?"

"This is your fault!" She cried grabbing her belly again.

"My…OH!" Jayne yelled out as he finally got it. "Wait he's not due to be here for another two months."

"I know that." River said with a glare. "Something's wrong. We need Simon." Without another thought he quickly picked her up and ran towards the direction of his mother's house. It only took about five minutes to get there and luckily everyone was outside sitting in the afternoon sun.

"What's wrong?!" Simon said immediately going into doctor mode when he saw the looks on River and Jayne's faces.

"Baby's comin'" Jayne said flatly walking towards Serenity.

"But the baby's not due for another two months." Simon stuttered for lack of anything else to say.

"Already know that doc, don't seem to make a damn bit of difference to the kid though." Jayne quickly set her down on the table and was shooed out by Simon. He walked down the ramp towards the rest of the crew who were waiting patiently.

"Is she okay? What's going on? Does Simon need any help?" Questions were thrown at him from everybody, but he didn't have any answers.

"Doc don't know nothin' yet. Still workin' on her." Jayne shrugged as he made his way to the front porch. The same porch where he and River had spent a night talking about poetry. He didn't realize anyone had followed him until he looked up to see Mal's worried face. He thought about what River had said earlier and began to feel his blood boil. He knew River had told Mal that he wasn't really in love with her, but River probably only said that so he would admit his feelings for Inara. He knew Mal would never argue with her, and never question anything she said regarding the subject. So he knew that River was telling the truth about Mal's thoughts. Without warning he stood up and punched Mal square in the jaw. As Mal dropped to the ground Jayne continued to hit him. Mal gave as good as he got once he realized he was being tossed around by an irate Jayne.

"JAYNE!"

"STOP!"

"What are you doing?" Everyone shouted for them to stop fighting and Zoe was the only one who kept quiet on the subject as she watched Jayne repeatedly hit their Captain over and over again. Jayne suddenly stopped grasping Mal's shirt in his hands and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Next time you think about my wife in any other way than crew …I. Will. Not. Stop. Dong ma?" Mal didn't say anything, but he nodded to show he understood. He couldn't really blame Jayne. If some man thought about his wife like that he might be in a mood enough to hurt them. Jayne stood up and turned to see Simon walking slowly down the ramp to where the others stood trying to help up a bloodied Mal.

"What happened out here?" Simon looked between Jayne's bloody hands and Mal's bloody face and knew at least that Jayne had been the aggressor here.

"Nothing." Jayne said and Simon knew better than to ask. "How's River? How's the baby? Is everything alright?" Jayne fired off questions faster than Simon could answer.

"River is okay. So is the baby. I was able to stop the labor with a dose of magnesium sulfate, but I don't know how long that will last. I don't want to keep her on it for very long since it can do more harm than good." Jayne didn't hear anything beyond the fact that both River and his son were fine.

"Can I see her?" Jayne asked looking at his brother in law hopefully.

"Yes, but don't stay long. The medicine makes her very tired." Jayne nodded his understanding and walked towards Serenity.

Simon turned to the rest of the group who were still standing there dumbstruck while Inara was looking over Mal's injuries. No one knew what to think, or even how to address it.

"What just happened?" Everyone shrugged at Simon's question. "Does anyone know what set Jayne off?"

"Well, no. None of us really asked. Jayne wasn't really in a mood to be giving out any answers." Wash laughed. "However, her did seem to be in a mood to kick Mal's ass." They all turned to see Inara trying to clean Mal's face off with some cloth.

"Did he say anything to you Mal?" Inara asked calmly.

"No…nothin'." Mal replied shaking his head. "Probably just upset about what's going on with River, and the baby." Inara nodded in silent agreement before steadying his head and continuing her work.

River seemed so fragile laying slightly inclined on the bed in the infirmary. She could hardly keep her eyes open. She looked pale, and thin with her large stomach silhouetted by the blanket. She was taking deep even breaths as she watched Jayne slowly come to stand beside her grabbing onto her hand.

"Hey baobei." Jayne smiled sweetly.

"Jayne… if being with me is something you feel you can't handle… I need to know right now." She said with a straight, albeit sleepy, face.

"River, Baby, where is this comin' from?"

"I'm never gonna be a normal woman, Jayne." She felt her eyelids growing heavy by the second. "Our son will more than likely never be normal, too, and if you can't handle that then I think you should leave now… before he's born. Don't worry about us. You'll be free to live your life. We can survive just as well without you." Jayne knew that she hadn't meant it to sound rude, or hurtful even, she was simply stating the facts. In he short lifetime River had become use to disappointment from those she loved and trusted. She loved her parents, and they abandoned her. She trusted the doctor's at the Academy, and they experimented on her. She even trusted Jayne once, and he had tried to sell her back to her personal hell. She was so use to these heartbreaking disappointments that it wouldn't be difficult for her to pick up the pieces from him leaving and continue on with her life.

"Darlin' you may be able to live without me, but I would die without you." He paused placing a hand on her belly. "Without both of you." She smiled as her eyes finally closed as sleep over took her tired body. Jayne had no intention of leaving her no matter how upset he got with her, or how crazy she was sometimes. That last thought at this moment was the most comforting for her.

**Let me know what you think please read and review. Constructive criticism is always welcome.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I want to thank everyone who had reviewed or started following this story. It really means a lot. I also want to thank my awesome beta Irishbrneyes these chapter wouldn't be nearly as good without all of her help. I do not own anything and no profit was made.**

It had been one month since Jayne had met his real father. He had asked River to remain quiet about it. He didn't want to even discuss it with his mother at this point in time. He had too much going on in his head to even think about opening that can of worms. River had taken to being very angry in the past month, and frankly he was terrified to even share a bed with her on most nights. She was upset about being bedridden. He had never seen his girl so upset as the day that the Doc busted her for being out of bed. After the arguing was finished River was back where she needed to be, and the Doc had a broken nose. Jayne couldn't contain his laughter when that happened. He had since been kicked out everyday for girl time, which is how he found himself in his Ma's kitchen rifling through her fridge trying to find something to eat.

"Hey big brother!" Mattie smirked as he slapped him on his back. "Thought when ya bought that house and got yerself a wife ya wouldn't be here constantly."

"Yea well River ain't 'xactly up to cookin' right now." Jayne grimaced.

"Well that's yer fault fer knockin' up a girl so small." Mattie chuckled and then paused when he noticed Jayne's worried face. "Look Jayne, I'm sure everything's gonna be fine. She's plenty tough. Kinda reminds me of Ma… Little creepy actually."

"Yer right Mattie. Just fretful is all."

" 'bout what?" Mattie asked taking a seat next to Jayne at the small kitchen table.

"Ain't got much money left. Used all of mine buyin' the house. She used most of hers helpin' fix it up." Jayne couldn't help but think things were going bad before they even had a chance to get started.

"Oh… I figured you were just gonna go back on the ship. Send money like ya did with Ma."

"I can't leave River here with a youngin'. Wouldn't be right, but I can't work in the mines either." Jayne sighed to himself before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Can't survive without food though."

"I know, I know. I just gotta think…" Jayne said to himself.

"No need." They both turned to the sound of Simon's voice. When had he come in? _The Doc is getting pretty stealthy,_ Jayne thought as he turned to face him.

Simon's face hadn't improved much since his incident with River. His eyes still looked slightly blackened, and he still had a slight bruise on his lower jaw. Mattie and Jayne both smirked at the sight of him. Simon didn't say anything, but simply took a spot next to Jayne to try and relay his plan.

"No need for what Doc?" Jayne asked

"There is no need for you to leave my sister here alone with your child while you gallivant through space." Jayne could tell by the way Simon worded it that he thought Jayne might be sleeping around. He couldn't really blame him though. Simon had seen what happened the first time he took off. It had to have been unsettling to say the least.

"Ain't gonna be no galivantin', Doc. Just tryin' to figure out a way to get some money so River and I can start farmin'. Don't know if you're aware of this, but seeds and other equipment tend ta cost money."

"Yes… well… I believe I have a plan." Simon said with no waiver to his voice. "Much like on Ariel actually. As you recall it made us quite a bit of money last time. Definitely plenty enough for you both to make a good start here."

"I'm getting the feeling that there's a but comin'…" Jayne groaned.

"You're right Jayne, and here it is. The trip there and back to the nearest medical facility could take at least three weeks…" Simon said quietly.

"and…" Jayne prompted waiting for the ball to drop.

"Well, River could go into labor any day now." Simon sighed heavily. "And I'll be needed for the job."

"And?" Mattie asked not understanding the situation.

"We don't know what's going to happen with River during her labor, and it hasn't exactly been an easy pregnancy so far."

"This plan ain't soundin' too good, Simon." Jayne shook his head. "Don't like leavin' River alone. Especially now."

"There isn't much we can do. Hopefully she'll hold off going into labor, but as of right now this is our only option." Simon, too, hated this idea, but it was the only one that could help River. He didn't want to alarm Jayne, but if River delivered early there was a real probability that their son could need medical assistance. With that real possibility he needed drugs that were just not available on this planet. That was the main reason for this run.

"We don't really have much of a choice then do we Doc?" Jayne couldn't even imagine leaving River behind, but if this meant he didn't have to miss most of the kids first year while he tried to get enough money to start the farm then he was in.

"No… not really."

"So who's stayin' with River?"Jayne asked

"I figured Zoe, and we could probably do without Kaylee. Mal seems to be pretty adept at fixing the ship…" Simon trailed off. "Inara, as a companion has a basic knowledge of what to do in these types of situations. Plus your mother has had children before so I'm sure she is more than capable of helping River if she did go into labor."

"Alright fine." Jayne gave up trying to argue. "Now the tough question… who's gonna tell River?" Before he could say anything both Mattie and Simon quickly ducked out of the room. "You cowards!" He yelled at them. He thought for a moment before summoning up the courage to go speak to his wife.

* * *

Everyone was crowded outside their tiny cabin trying to hear what, if anything, was going on. Currently it was silent, eerily so, and the crew was starting to worry that maybe she had killed him. Simon was hiding behind Kaylee just in case Jayne used him as a scape goat. Mal and Zoe had taken up spots in front eager to see Jayne get his ass handed to him by his tiny pregnant wife.

"Do you think he's told her yet?" Simon squeaked out. Before anyone could say anything there was a loud crashing sound followed by Jayne yelling out.

"You know something tells me she just recently became aware." Wash laughed. They stood there listening to her shouting for a another few minutes before they heard the sound of glass come from the direction of their bedroom.

"Oh I bet River threw that lamp. Wow, she must be ticked off because she loved that thing." Kaylee grinned.

"Well I mean there was no right way to word this conversation, but I'm sure there was a wrong way." Inara said to herself.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Jayne managed to say the wrong thing." Mal rolled his eyes. They all turned to look at the door as Jayne came stumbling out with a black eye.

"I take it that things went well?" Wash asked with a chuckle.

"Shut it lit'l man." Jayne spat as he stormed past all of them to stand directly in front of Simon. "Time to man up Brother-in-law. She wants to talk to you." Jayne smiled.

"You didn't tell her it was my idea did you?" Simon stammered as he hid behind Kaylee some more.

"Are you mad? Course I did." Jayne said. "It's why I only got the one black eye instead of two." The whole crew laughed as Simon moved timidly approaching the house. Before he could shut the door the yelling started, and the crew thought it was best to head off before she decided to have a chat with the rest of them.

* * *

In the end River agreed with both Jayne and Simon that it was in everyone's best interest that they go now, but not before socking Simon in the nose one more time. He didn't even bother to complain knowing it was best not to argue with a pregnant woman. So now they were loading up Serenity while River, Kaylee, Inara, Zoe and baby Julie stood there watching from the front porch. Mrs. Cobb and Mattie thought it was best that they go into town to get some things for dinner trying to cheer the remaining women up. River had been allowed out of bed for the day, and was excited when Jayne moved some of her things into Ma's house. He didn't like the idea of River being all alone at the cabin, just in case anything went wrong. She was going to be sharing a room with Kaylee. Kaylee loved the idea of sharing a room with River, and while River loved her sister-in-law she knew that Jayne did just to torture her. Kaylee could not be quiet about the awesome girl's nights they would be having.

"Oh… and we'll paint each other's toe nails!" Kaylee clapped her hands excitedly.

"KAYLEE!" River hollered "I can't even see my toes so I do not give a good gorram what they look like okay!"

"oh…" Kaylee said looking a little morose. River instantly felt awful for taking the smile off her face.

"Please forgive me Kaylee. I'm just a little moody these days." River hugged her gently.

"That's okay Sweetie. I get how you might be upset, and now with your man and brother leavin'." Kaylee shrugged, but she still looked upset. Before River could say anything Jayne walked up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Kaylee smiled at her sweetly before walking off to go say goodbye to her man.

"We gotta go bao bei." He whispered softly.

"I know…" She sighed. "I just wish you didn't have to."

"I wish that too baby, but after this job I won't be leavin' ya again. Dong ma?" She turned to look at him as her eyes filled with tears. He kissed her gently, but with passion, and hugged her close. Ending the embrace he quickly dropped down to kneel in front of her putting a hand on her round belly. "Now you lissen' here, my little man." He said speaking firmly, but softly to her belly as if sharing the first of many secrets. "You jus' wait till yer pa gets back before makin' yer grand entrance." She giggled softly.

"You know he's probably just as stubborn as you."

"Me? Stubborn? I don't have a clue as to what yer talkin' about." He winked and then stood back up.

"Now ya gotta take care of yerself." She nodded and then leaned against his chest inhaling his scent deeply. It would be nearly a month before she would see him again, she didn't want to forget what he would smell like. "I gotta go now babydoll." He said kissing her forehead.

"Yes… yes… leave your defenseless pregnant wife to her own devices." She smirked.

"Defenseless?" He raised an eyebrow "Yea… tell that to my eye."

"Goodbye my Jayne. Be safe, and come home to me. I love you." She kissed him once more.

"I love you." He whispered in her ear. "Bye bao bei." He waved as he walked slowly towards Serenity.

"Let's go Jayne, kids gonna be twenty before ya even get on the gorram ship!" Mal yelled.

"Mal's just angry cause he knows he's gonna get shot again!" Kaylee yelled out as she elbowed River causing her to giggle. They watched as the men all clamored aboard Serenity and then went inside. River was riveted to her spot watching until Serenity hit atmo, and then walked slowly inside. Kaylee was sitting on the floor of their shared room looking over her nail polish when River finally walked in.

"So Kaylee, what do you think about putting pink on my toes." River said loudly causing her to squeal in delight.

It had been two weeks since the men left. They had gotten word to the women that everything had gone well, and they were now heading back. River, as to be expected, was thrilled. She was now currently in a dream where she and Jayne were laying side by side on a warm beach. Their son Sam, who happened to be the spitting image of his father, was playing in the sand nearby. Before River could say anything the skies blackened. The Blue hands suddenly loomed over them. They grabbed Jayne and Sam, vanishing as soon as they had come. However, before disappearing one of them simply smiled at her. With that last vision of her dream in her head she quickly sat up right. Looking over she saw Kaylee sleeping peacefully in the bed next to hers. Still waking from that horrific nightmare it took her a minute to notice the wetness on the sheets. Throwing back the covers She saw that it was not amniotic fluid that covered the sheets, but blood.

"KAYLEE!"

* * *

"Sir, we have an alert on subject River Tam." The young lackey said turning to update his supervisor.

"Yes, and what news it that?" He figured it was just the latest news on the baby which was of no concern to him unless it was on it's way.

"Sir, the Subject has gone into labor. Shall I set course for Heloise?" He waited for an order patiently.

"Yes. Inform Mr. Tam that he should be ready to assist in the apprehension of his daughter and grandchild shortly." The lackey punched in the coordinates and stood up quickly.

"We're about three days out from Heloise sir." He waited to be excused and then jetted off to go find and inform Mr. Tam of what was happening.

"We're coming for you Ms. Tam and when we collect, you will be sorry you ever left the Academy." He spoke aloud to himself as his finger stroked down the image of her face carefully

**Alright let me know what you think. Please read and review because it lets me know that you guys are still reading.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I want to thank my super awesome beta Irishbrneyes for kicking me in the ass when I started to lag behind in my writing. I also want to thank everyone who had reviewed or favorited this story it really means a lot! I do not own anything and no profit was made.**

Zoe was doing her best to keep River calm as Jayne's mother collected everything that was needed. Kaylee had run into town to send a wave to Serenity. Situated on the other side of the birthing bed that River was in sat Inara, running her fingers through the younger girls hair calming her as well as she could. The blood had stopped thankfully, but River was in an extreme amount of pain. Just as Mrs. Cobb finished getting everything ready, Kaylee stumbled into the room red in the face and out of breath.

"Wave transmitter…" She paused to take a few huge gulps of air. "…is out in town!"

"IN MY BAG!" River shrieked as yet another contraction hit her. "I…have a…portable cortex… GAH!" River couldn't even finish her sentence. She silently began cursing Jayne in her head as she leaned forward clasping her stomach.

"Okay!" Kaylee nodded before she quickly darted out of the room. She came back just as quickly as she left, but this time she held a small tablet in her hand. She was punching in the wave address hoping that someone would answer. They all waited with baited breath for someone, anyone to answer. Luckily Mal picked up. He seemed a bit groggy, and disoriented, but concerned that they would be waving Serenity so late.

"Heya Riv-" he stopped mid-greeting when he realized it was Kaylee using the portable cortex, and not his Albatross. "You're not River? Why are you using her cortex?" He looked so confused that Kaylee would have laughed under normal circumstances, but she needed to let them know what was happening.

"Uhh…well, she's a bit busy at the moment." Just as Kaylee finished her sentence River let out a loud guttural moan.

"What in the sphincter hell was that? OH!" Kaylee watched as realization crossed his face. "Just hold on, an' I'll go get Jayne for ya." The picture went empty as Mal left the bridge to fetch Jayne. Within a matter of seconds Kaylee heard the sound of quick, heavy, footsteps growing louder, and then suddenly Jayne was there. She had never seen him looked so worried or anxious. Mal must have let him know the situation.

"Kaylee? What's going on? Where's River?" He threw rapid fire questions at her so fast that she had to pause for a moment to think of how to answer them all.

"Well Jayne, she's a bit busy… what with havin' your baby an' all."

"What?!" he hollered. Apparently Mal hadn't let him know. "Can't she just like…I don't know…hold her legs together or sumethin'?"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Kaylee jumped slightly as River screeched. "I cut you once, Jayne, and so help me I will do it again!"

"Oh shit. She hear me?" Jayne looked worriedly at Kaylee.

"YOU'RE GORRAM RIGHT I HEARD YOU!" River yelled again. Kaylee was starting to get a bit nervous.

"I'm gonna say yeah to that one Jayne. She most definitely heard ya." Kaylee smirked uneasily. She always found it funny how all of the men of Serenity seemed to have the ability to say something stupid.

"How far out are ya?"

"Three days."

"How 'bout at full burn?"

"Uhh.." Kaylee rolled her eyes. Sometimes talking to Jayne was like talking to a brick wall.

"Get Wash or Mal, please!" Kaylee said adding another eye roll. Nodding quickly Jayne ducked off the screen and was replaced by Mal.

"Pushin' it should put us there in 'bout a day and a half."

"Please hurry!" Kaylee pleaded.

"Put Jayne back on!" River cried out. Jayne forced Mal out of his way, and looked expectantly, searching for River's face. Kaylee pointed the cortex towards River and Jayne smiled.

"Hey baby." He said in the most calm, soothing voice that he could muster.

"When you get back here I am going to repeatedly kick you in the balls!" Zoe and Inara both placed hands over their mouths to stifle their laughter as Jayne's face fell.

"What? Why?"

"This is all your fault!" She wailed as tears of pain streamed down her face.

"We gotta sign off now, Jayne. River needs ta start pushin'." Zoe said sternly.

"Alright then. Ya'll take care a my girl, an' my son. I'll be there as fast as I can bao bei." Inara couldn't help smiling at Jayne's loving tone.

"HUNDAN!" River screamed. "CHUR NI-DUH YOU BIG—"

"Gotta go Jayne." Kaylee said quickly cutting off River's expletive filled rant.

River endured fourteen hours of labor. Fourteen hours of screaming, crying and cursing Jayne's name. Kaylee and Inara were left to take the brunt of River's anger. Zoe needed to leave when Julie started to get hungry. River was so focused on pushing the baby out she didn't even hear when Jayne tried to send another wave to see how she was doing. Kaylee told him that they were to busy to talk, and that she would call when it was over. After fourteen hours of pushing, groaning and smacking Inara's hands away River finally heard a small, but strong cry. Looking up she locked eyes on the most beautiful blue eyed baby boy she had ever seen.

"Mei mei you did wonderful." Inara said smiling at her.

"He looks just like Jayne." Kaylee smirked.

"And if he's half as big a trouble maker as his father was yer gonna have yer hands full." Mother Cobb smiled down at her daughter-in-law with tears of joy streaming down her face.

"I have a feeling there's more Cobb in him than Tam." River joked tiredly.

They we all smiling, and cooing at baby Sam when they heard the sound of a wave coming through. Jayne was obviously too worried to wait. Kaylee went to answer it, but paused when River spoke up.

"No!" River smiled mischievously. "He can wait."

Zoe walked in carrying baby Julie and immediately noticed the size difference between the two.

"My goodness River! How did you even manage to push him out?" Zoe smirked at her own joke.

"It's eerie how much he looks like Jayne." Kaylee said again.

"Yes, one would think with my dominant genetics Sam would look like me, but I guess he's just as stubborn as his father." River smiled down at the blue bundle in her arms.

"I think I still have Jayne's old cradle upstairs. If you want it that is?" Mrs. Cobb smiled at her again.

"That would be wonderful." She nodded. "Kaylee?"

"Yeah River?"

"If you wouldn't mind could you take it over to my house?" Kaylee nodded knowing better than to argue with River, and darted out of the room.

"Honey, maybe it's best if you stay here tonight with all of us." Inara tried to reason with the newest, young mother, but River simply shook her head smiling.

"No, I would like to stay in my own house, but thank you for your concern." She said sternly enough that it took Inara by surprise. "We will be just fine." That being said River effectively ended the conversation.

Kaylee and Zoe smiled at each other as they watched Serenity slowly set down in the open field next to the Cobb house. Inara and Mrs. Cobb walked out the front door ready to greet the returning men. Jayne was the first one down the ramp looking around in a panic trying to locate River and his son. When he realized they weren't outside he looked to Kaylee for answers.

"She's at yer house." Kaylee smiled and then ran towards Simon. She squealed as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Our house? How long she been there?" He was confused. He figured she would have stayed with his Ma until they got back.

"Ever since Samuel was born a course." Kaylee shrugged nonchalantly.

"You all just let her stay there by herself?"

"Jayne…" Zoe sighed. "Do you honestly think we let her do anything?" Kaylee and Inara started laughing. Jayne thought for another moment and then shrugged before he took off into the woods towards his home, his wife, and his son.

Jayne paused as he came upon their small cottage nestled in the clearing of trees. What made him stop was the picture that was there before him. River made quite a sight there on the porch, and sitting in the rocking chair he had bought just for this, and in her arms she held a small, squirming, blue bundle. As he headed up the walk she looked up at him with the biggest, brightest smile he had ever seen. He felt his heart stop for just a moment before he started the slow climb up the three stairs to their porch.

"Good morning Zhang fu." She smiled as she stood up. He was shocked to see that she looked exactly like she did prior to being pregnant.

"You really shoulda stayed back at Ma's house, bao bei. What if somethin' woulda happened to one a ya?" His eyes kept darting between River's face and the small bundle she was cradling in her arms. He watched in awe as a tiny little hand shot up in the air and splayed across her chest before curling against her collar bone.

"No, we needed to be here. This is our home. Besides, I knew we would be safe here." She looked down at her son, their son and smiled. "Would you like to hold him?"

"Nah, I'd probably jus' break him."

"Unlikely…" She giggled at his nervousness. "I have made him sturdy. He is a carbon copy of his father after all."

"Huh?"

"He looks just like you." She simplified her statement for him. "Now sit." She said sternly while motioning towards the rocking chair with her head. He thought for a moment before he shrugged and carefully sat down. He watched nervously as she carefully handed him Samuel, and smiled again. He glanced down at his son who had opened his eyes for a brief moment and Jayne could see that River was right. Sam was his little copy.

"What do I do?" he asked after a relatively short period of time.

"Just talk to him. That's what I've been doing." She shrugged and sat down on the ground to watch her men.

"Hey there Lil' Man." He started. "I'm yer Pa." he paused. "Probably not what you was expectin', and I'm sorry 'bout that." River placed a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. "Yer Ma's great though." He turned to look at River. "What am I spose to do with him?" She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What does he do?"

"Eats, poops, and sleeps. That's about it right now." She smiled.

"Oh…well when ya get a bit older I'll teach ya ta hunt and fish; Make sutff. It'll be great." He sighed.

"But right now why don't ya work on gettin' a lil' bigger." Jayne paused again taking in Sam's size. "Kinda big fer a newborn ain't he?"

"Uh huh!" She nodded with a look of phantom pain ghosting over her face. "He is a _**large**_ baby."

"But… I mean… he's really big."

"YES!" she said through her teeth. "You think you're telling me something new?! I believe I, better than anyone mind you, know just how large Sam is."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here fer ya, baby doll."

"It's alright." She smiled "You were out doing what you thought was best for us, and for our future. I am so thrilled that you are home, Jayne." River stood up and walked over to the chair. "I think I will put him to bed now." She whispered as she slowly took the baby from Jayne.

"What have ya been puttin' him in?"

"Your old cradle, of course. Your Mother gave it to us to use." She smiled.

"Can't put him in that thing." He said a bit too loud. He winced hoping he hadn't woken up Samuel who had fallen asleep just before she had taken him. " 'Snot safe."

"It is perfectly safe." She rolled her eyes, but smiled to let him know his comment hadn't upset her.

"Still…I…I'm gonna make him a new one."

"If you would like to do that then I have no objections." River smiled once more and kissed him lightly on the temple before she walked slowly into the house.

Jayne smiled as he looked out on his lawn and the surrounding forest. He could see his future laid out. Him teaching Samuel how to hunt while River stood watching from the porch; her stomach swollen with another child. He felt secure in the fact that everything was as it should be. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was coming, and that filled him with apprehension. Something a man like Jayne did not need in this part of his life. Whoever, or whatever, came he and River would meet it head on.

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